494 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



A. E. Culbertson (1946) saw in early August 1944 Lawrence's 

 goldfinches feeding on jumping galls (Neurotervs saltatorius) in a 

 heavily infested stand of vaUey oaks (Quercus lobata) near Fresno, 

 Calif. These leaf galls are about one millimeter in diameter and have 

 an extremely thin, dry shell. They seem to jump as the larva within 

 strikes rapidly against the inner waU. A flock of about 30 birds 

 congregated and fed on the gaUs daily for 3 weeks. They picked up 

 most of the gaUs from the ground, but when they were disturbed, 

 the birds flew into the trees and picked the galls from the leaves. 



Goldfinches show a fondness for salt, especially during the nesting 

 season, and repeatedly visit saltlicks or other ground deposits of it. 

 Peterson (1942) offered salt continuously in a partly wooded pasture 

 on Mount Diablo. Lawrence's goldfinches came in flocks and covered 

 the salt-saturated ground through the nesting season. They picked 

 at crystals occasionally, but fed mostly from the soil within a foot of 

 the block. By June they stopped coming. 



Water. — Though Lawrence's goldfinches live in dry habitats, they 

 require water nearly the year round. They drink from the creeks until 

 these cease running, and then they search out overflow water from tanks, 

 weUs, and dripping faucets. 



In early afternoon on October 22 a flock of more than 20 Lawrence's 

 goldfinches flew into two wiUows beside a water trough and uttered 

 their thin, plaintive notes for about 12 minutes as they moved about 

 in the dead branches. Finally two fluttered down to the edge of the 

 trough and drank, and others followed immediately. For a few min- 

 utes there was great fluttering and flying back and forth between the 

 two willows and the trough. At one time 12 were lined up along the 

 end-board. As two or three left, others immediately took their places 

 and drank. Each bird sipped rapidly, about once each 13^2 seconds, 

 tipping its body to dip its beak in the water with its tail up, then 

 throwing its head up and its tail down as it swallowed. 



Lawrence's goldfinch is fond of bathing when the opportunity offers, 

 as in the shallow margins of creeks. Flocks going down to water 

 tend to gather around the bolder individuals that land first, as though 

 requiring a nucleus. After splashing about, the birds usually fly up 

 to open perches in the sun or vines or willow branches to sit and preen 

 with feathers fluffed out to dry. Lawrence's goldfinches seem to 

 preen more than other passerine birds studied on the Reservation. 



Voice. — Ridgway (1877) reports that this bird "uttered very 

 pleasant and quite peculiar notes." According to A. A. Allen (1932) 

 the songs of this goldfinch are lower in pitch and somewhat rougher 

 than the songs of the other species, and it has among its call notes 

 a harsh kee-yerr that is quite different from the notes of the others. 

 J. Grinnell (1912) noted several pairs in early May at Glendora, 



