EASTERN GOLDFINCH 449 



Witmer Stone (1937) speaks of a nuptial flight: "Occasionally we 

 see a male Goldfinch flying high in the air more or less in circles, and 

 after covering this imaginary track several times he will relapse into 

 the usual undulating flight and drop back to his perch. This per- 

 formance is apparently a display, incident to the mating season." 

 Francis H. Allen (MS.) says of the song-flight that "the bird keeps 

 on a level with the wings flapping rapidly and steadily instead of 

 taking the undulating course as in ordinary flight." 



Aretas A. Saunders (1938) reports: "On July 27, 1933, I observed 

 what was apparently a courtship flight accompanied by song. The 

 pair of birds was flying about over an open area, not far from a nest 

 discovered later that year. They flew in great circles from 50 to 80 

 feet from the ground, undulating up and down, and the male singing 

 a long continued song. After circling about several times they flew 

 away, the male changing from song to the ordinary 'perchickery' 

 notes." 



I have seen several times a curious modiflcation of this song-flight 

 and find it mentioned twice in my notes: "May 21, 1913. One of 

 four goldfinches, flying about above the trees (good-sized willows), 

 changed from his ordinary flight to a slow, labored flight, the wings 

 moving in leisurely, heavy beats. The performance suggested the 

 flight of a chat when he mounts into the air and dangles his legs. 

 In changing to this labored flight the bird, a male, appeared at once 

 to become twice his former size, for the reason, I suppose, because 

 we associate slow wing-beats with a good-sized bird." And on July 

 11, 1913: "A male goldfinch flying above trees, singing. Flight is a 

 series of slow flops with his wings, giving the impression of a bird as 

 large as a crow seen in the distance." 



Nesting. — The goldfinch breeds so late in the season that full-size 

 leaves afford ample concealment for the nest. Walter P. Nickell 

 (1951) made a study covering 264 nests in Michigan during the 

 period 1933-49. The reader is referred to his lengthy paper. The 

 earliest date on which a nest was found containing eggs was July 6, 

 the latest date for a nest containing young was September 25. 



Nesting sites were not over 300 yards from feeding areas and the 

 better the food supply, the greater the density of nests. Greatest 

 density was in swamps. The species is tolerant in respect to terri- 

 torial boundaries. Food seems more important. No nest was far 

 away from an abundant supply of thistle seed. Territory which 

 lacked thistle but which seemed otherwise appropriate was not used. 

 Nickell lists an overall total of 36 species of trees and shrubs used for 

 nesting. L. H. Walkinshaw (1938) supplies, in addition, an ash, 

 Fraxinus sp., and Sassafras variifolium. 



