392 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



grey, medium length * * *, Tongue and floor of mouth crimson, 

 posterior angles of tongue paler but not forming definite spots, roof 

 of mouth dark lilac; externally flanges cream-colour." J. T, Nichols 

 described the Massapequa nestling found dead (now in the American 

 Museum of Natural History) in the flesh as follows: "Weight 913 

 grams; length 83 mm.; wing 44 mm.; tarsus 12 mm.; tail 14 mm,; 

 biU iy2 mm. Upper mandible wood gray, lower mandible paler, tip 

 dark, j^eUow along fissure; legs pale pinkish gray; bird scantily 

 feathered, wings about half developed, wing patches yellowish, a 

 brighter yellow line through the center of each." 



On leaving the nest the juveniles (Whitherby, 1938) are entirely 

 grayish-buff with indistinct dark brown spots and streaks, except for 

 the dull white belly and the wings and tail, which resemble those of 

 the adult but have huffier tips. The juveniles molt their body feathers 

 in early autumn and in their first winter plumage assume the distinctive 

 white-rimmed crimson face and black crown of the adult dress. There 

 is no spring molt, and the adult plumage is replaced annually by a 

 complete molt in August and September. 



Food. — Witherby (1938) gives the food of the British goldfinch as 

 "Seeds and insects, but chiefly former. Of seeds, thistles are great 

 favourites, but many other weed seeds are eaten and also smaU seeds 

 from cones, birches and alder-catkins. Of insects, small Coleoptera, 

 larvae of Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and aphides." 



The species' food preferences in this country are much the same, 

 and vary little from those of the American goldfinch. John T, Nichols 

 sent me the following analysis of the stomach contents of the dead 

 Massapequa nestling: "Stomach crammed full with small seeds of two 

 or three kinds. There were also a green caterpillar, the pupa of a moth, 

 a few red spiders, and bits of green leaf." He also observed several 

 smaU flocks feeding on the seeds of sweet gum (Hquidambar) at 

 Garden City, Long Island, in the faU. 



My own records show them seen feeding in spring in patches of 

 various early-seeding grasses. Later they resorted to beds of thistle, 

 marigold, zinnia, cornflower, and other composites. I watched one 

 bird in juvenile plumage in late August 1944 feeding almost exclusively 

 on zinnias; it perched on the flower heads, pulled out the more or 

 less unripe seeds, and then mashed them between its mandibles 

 before swallowing them. 



In winter the small flocks about Massapequa in the early 1940's 

 frequented patches of crab grass and barnyard weeds on an old farm 

 at Fort Neck and, as described in Europe, were partial to old waste- 

 lands and the weedy borders of grainfields. They were practically, 

 if not entirely, independent of feeding stations, many of which were 



