THE GOLDFINCH 



Finch Family — Fringillidce 



Length: About 5 inches, 



Male: Spring and summer plumage — body and shoulders 

 bright yellow; crown black; wings and tail, black 

 and white; tail forked; feathers above tail, gray. 

 Winter plumage — olive-brown back; throat, breast, 

 and shoulders yellow; wings black and white. 



Female: Olive-brown above; dull yellow below; wings and 

 tail a dull black; white bars on wings, tail white- 

 tipped; shoulders olive-green; grayish above tail. 

 No black on crown. 



Notes: An unusually sweet chirp or call-note like that of a 

 canary, who-ee', with a rising inflectioi?; a flight -note, 

 per -chick' ory, given as the goldfinch bounds through 

 the air; a number of gpntle little twittering sounds, 

 for these birds are very social and communicative. 



Song: A rapid outpouring of notes in a wild, sweet, canary- 

 like strain. 



Flight: In great waves or undulations. 



Habitat: Fields and gardens, or wherever its favorite food 

 may be obtained. 



Nest: In bushes or trees; made of soft grasses or fibers, and 

 lined with thistledown. 



Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from south-central 

 Canada to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and northern Geor- 

 gia; winters over most of its breeding range and 

 south to the Gulf Coast. 



IN winter, the goldfinch may be distinguished from 

 others of the finch or sparrow family by its undulat- 

 ing flight, its flight-note, per-chick'ory, and its call-note. 



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