EASTERN GOLDFINCH 461 



William Brewster (1906) speaks of the bird's former occurrence 

 in Cambridge, Mass., and the effect upon it of the introduction 

 of the house sparrow: "Goldfinches used to breed nearly everywhere 

 in and near Cambridge; in shade trees along our city streets; in or- 

 chards throughout the farming country; most abundantly of all in the 

 maple woods and willow thickets which once covered so large a portion 

 of the Fresh Pond Swamps. Within the past fifteen or twenty years 

 they have nearly ceased to nest in localities where English Sparrows 

 have become abundant * * *." 



Margaret M. Nice (1939), reviewing her own experience and the 

 available literature on the territorial behavior of the goldfinch, 

 concludes that the bird seems to show a "sociable tendency." 



ChresweU J. Hunt (1904) speaks on feeding behavior: "I noticed 

 last winter a marked difference in the manner in which the Goldfinch 

 and Tree Sparrow procure the seeds of the evening primrose when 

 feeding upon the stalks sticking above the snow. The Goldfinch 

 flies to the cluster of seed-capsules at the top of the stalk, and clings 

 there while it extracts the seeds with its biU. The Tree Sparrow, on 

 the other hand, alights upon the stalk and shakes it vigorously — 

 making the seed rattle — until it has shaken out a number of the seeds, 

 when it drops down to the snow and picks them up." Alexander 

 Wilson (1832) remarks: "During the latter part of summer they are 

 almost constant visitants in our gardens, in search of seeds, which 

 they dislodge from the husk with great address, while hanging, 

 frequently head downwards, in the manner of the titmouse." 



Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) reports an interesting note on 

 roosting: "At sunset of a winter's day, late in January, I found one 

 of these birds anxiously flitting about a small pine grove on Heart- 

 break Hill, alighting at the bases of the trees, and finally popping 

 into a hole about a foot deep in the snow under a stump. Frightened 

 from there, it flew about nervously for a few minutes, but at last 

 returned to the same hole close beside which I was sitting motionless. 

 As it was so nearly dark, I had not been sure of the bird's identity, 

 so I tried to catch it in my hat, but it escaped. It finally cuddled 

 into the protected side of a footprint in the snow, and was there easily 

 captured by my companion. It was evident that the Goldfinch had 

 been searching for a protected hole in which to pass the night — a 

 safe place in that region as the snow showed no mark of prowling 

 animals. I have recorded this, for observations on the sleeping habits 

 of birds are few." 



Mr. Skutch says in his notes: "On the evening of July 27, 1931, 

 while walking toward my lodgings, I heard about sunset the chicoree 

 of goldfinches in flight, and looking upward saw several males tracing 

 their undulations over the lawns between the houses. They had 



