GREEN-BACKED GOLDFINCH 483 



alighted fii'st on the deerweed, which, bemg taller than the grass and 

 vinegarweed, afforded a better view of the surrounding terrain. 

 Early in the morning in late November about 100 goldfinches foraged 

 in an open field and sunned between times in two blue oaks at the 

 edge of a nearby woodland. In late afternoon in early February 

 between 300 and 400 goldfinches perched in tall valley oaks about a 

 barn. Many sang as they sat in the tops of the bare trees while 

 others foraged in the outer branches of a nearby live oak. 



In the Colorado Valley near the Needles in early March, Grinnell 

 (1914b) found large flocks "congregated in the central parts of exten- 

 sive dense mesquite thickets where, perched from three to four feet 

 above the ground, they were certainly safe from marauders; here they 

 sang volubly in chorus until dusk settled." 



Flight. — The green-backed goldfinch flies in the undulating manner 

 typical of aU its close relatives. A rapid flurry of wings to gain 

 momentum bears the bird upward, followed by a shallow, swooping 

 glide on closed wings, then another climbing burst of wingbeats and 

 another glide. The white patches under the wings usually show 

 conspicuously in flight,' and the birds often sing and call on the wing, 

 the characteristic call notes being uttered in the glides between wing- 

 beats. On long trips the birds tend occasionally to stop and rest 

 briefly in a convenient treetop before continuing on their way. 



Voice. — The green-backed goldfinch starts to sing by the first of 

 March or a little earlier. Its song is a pleasing, rapturous, canarylike 

 burst of bird music, frequently uttered on the wing, although this 

 habit is by no means so characteristic of this species as of the house 

 finch. The bird sings actively all spring; during the summer the song 

 gradually wanes, but snatches of it may sometimes be heard in 

 autumn. As Hoffmann (1927) describes it: 



In any weedy border of neglected fields small birds with yellow underparts and 

 white patches in their wings fly off when disturbed, with a little shivering note 

 like the jarring of a cracked piece of glass. * * * The spring flocks gather in trees 

 near their feeding ground and keep up a concert of twittering song. When a pair 

 are nesting the male utters, either from an upper spray or from the air, a series of 

 sweet twittering notes that suggest the song of a canary. * * * Green-backed 

 goldfinches can always be identified by their calls. These inchide a plaintive 

 tee-ijee, both notes on the same pitch, a tee-ee, the second note higher, and a single 

 plaintive tee and the jarring notes mentioned above. There is more variety in 

 the calls of the Green-backed Goldfinch than in those of the Willow Goldfinch, 

 and a plaintive quahty which the latter lacks. Young birds, just before leaving 

 the nest or when following their parents in early summer, utter continually a 

 single sharp tsi. 



The song of the male goldfinch heard on the Hastings Reservation 

 was a long disorganized series of faintly melodious notes rising and 

 falling many times, but most often rising. Frequently interspersed 

 throughout the long song were sharply rising slurred notes that gave 



646-737— 68— pt. 1 33 



