450 "Cr.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 paRt i 



Nickell found nests ranging in height from 33 feet above the ground, 

 in a red oak, to one foot in a hawthorne. Nests may be located in 

 upright forks with an average of four vertical twigs evenly spaced to 

 form a cradle. At times one side is unsupported. Another type is 

 held between parallel uprights without support underneath. Another 

 type rests in cradles of twigs on a horizontal branch. A fifth type is 

 saddled over and around horizontal branches and fastened to small 

 horizontal twigs or leaves. In two instances nests were wedged be- 

 tween horizontal forks, held in place by the overlapping of the nesting 

 materials and by attachment on two sides, without support underneath. 

 This nest, thus, resembles the semipensile nests of the vireos. Nests 

 are so durable they will last several years, and so tightly woven they 

 will hold water temporarily. The lining is of soft and warm materials, 

 thinning towards the rim, frequently composed of thistle and/or cattail 

 down. Spider silk and caterpillar webs are used to bind the rim of the 

 nest with bark of stronger material such as grape or hawthorne. 



Measurements show quite a range in variation. Nests tend to be 

 deeper than wide, but many show equal depth and width. Average 

 measurements for 79 used nests in upright forks were: 2.3 inches inside 

 diameter; 2.9 inches outside: 1.5 inside depth; and 2.8 inches outside. 



Margaret Drum (1939) states the feeding area may be more than 

 a mile distant from the nesting site. 



Thomas D. Burleigh (1925) found the goldfinch nesting in Georgia 

 among pine trees, one nest "in a large short leaf pine, sixty feet from 

 the ground and six feet out at the outer end of one of the upper limbs." 



Several observers have reported goldfinches building in thistles. 

 Clarence H. Bush (1921) says: "On August 8, 1915, while walking in 

 a pasture containing many large thistles, I noticed a Goldfinch fly into 

 one of these thistles, and later found it was building a nest in it. On 

 August 22, there were five eggs in this nest and the bird was sitting. 

 On this day I found three more nests in this same pasture, all 

 in thistles * * *." Mary Emily Bruce (1898) speaks of a nesting in 

 an orchard: "The goldfinches had chosen a tiny pear tree quite close to 

 the house, and the nest was barely four feet from the ground." Walter 

 B. Barrows (1912) reports a very odd site — "a nest with two fresh eggs 

 found in a corn shock." 



G. M. Sutton (MS.) accents the close relationship of the nesting 

 site to water; more often than not the nest is over swampy or other 

 wet regions. In Oklahoma he found nests in dogwood, oaks, elm- 

 saplings, dwarf birch, red and sugar maple, quaking aspen, wild cherry, 

 willow, and spiraea. Another 20 nests were built in shrubbery along 

 the edges of marshes. 



Andrew J. Berger writes of finding a total of 66 nests near Ann 

 Arbor, Mich., during 1955, all of which were built in Crataegus sp. 



