470 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



deserts and south in Baja California. It is casual in northeastern 

 California and Ai'izona. 



The name "willow" seems to have been well chosen for this gold- 

 finch, for its favorite haunts are in the damp areas along streams, 

 ditches, and ponds, where willows grow. 



Nesting. — Unlike its eastern relative, the willow goldfinch begins 

 its nest building early in the season. John G. Tyler (1913) says: 

 "Any time from the last week in April until the first of July a pair of 

 Willow Goldfinches may begin the construction of a nest, which 

 later will contain four or five eggs of the palest blue color. These 

 nests are beautiful, compactly woven cups, made of light plant 

 fibers, bark strips, and cotton, and fastened in the forks of a willow 

 or peach tree at a height of from six to fifteen feet from the ground, 

 as a rule." 



Dawson (1923) says: "Nesting takes place normally in May or 

 June; but the birds occasionally prolong their efforts into July; and 

 April nests are of record. In then- later nesting the WiUow Gold- 

 finches show some disposition to colonize. Nests are placed at 

 moderate heights in willow trees, in ceanothus bushes at the lower 

 levels, or even in weeds." 



Eggs. — The eggs of the willow goldfinch are indistinguishable from 

 those of the eastern goldfinch. The measurements of 40 eggs average 

 16.5 by 12.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 

 18.3 by 11.4, 15.8 by 15.0, and 1^.5 by 11.1 millimeters. 



Young. — Irene G. Wheelock (1912) gives the incubation period 

 as 10 days and says that the young remain in the nest for a similar 

 period, being fed by the regurgitation of their parents. After leaving 

 the nest, they soon learn to forage for themselves, clinging to the top 

 of a thistle or a bunch of goldenrod. 



Food. — F. E. L. Beal (1910) studied the contents of 84 stomachs of 

 the wiUow goldfinch and found the food was 95 percent vegetable and 

 5 percent animal matter. He says: "They are eminently seed lovers, 

 and rarely eat anything else, except a few insects during the season 

 of reproduction. The only mischief so far unputed to them is the 

 eating of the seeds of useful plants, such as lettuce and other vegetables 

 on seed farms. Investigation has failed, however, to find a case 

 where the damage was considerable. * * * 



"One marked peculiarity of the goldfinches is their bibulous habits. 

 They seem always in need of water, perhaps owing to the habit of 

 eating dry seeds. The ^vriter has seen more goldfinches drinking 

 in one day than he has seen of all other species in his whole life. * * * 



"There are probably few birds that do so little harm as the willow 

 goldfinch. Its ankual food, though small in quantity, is composed 

 entirely of harmful insects. It eats no fruit and practically no grain. 



