LESSER GOLDFINCH 473 



one from a group of 20 birds at 2,000 feet elevation, the other from 

 a flock of 5 at 6,250 feet. 



Courtship. — The com-tship of this race of the lesser goldfinch has 

 not been studied in detail, but presumably it does not differ markedly 

 from that of the western subspecies. Brandt (1940) made an interest- 

 ing observation in Texas of what he calls the "song circuit." The 

 courting male flies off for a distance of a half mile or more, circles, and 

 then returns to his mate. Throughout the flight he undulates in 

 a characteristic waveUke motion and continuously utters his dis- 

 tinctive exuberant nuptial flight song. 



Nesting. — Although these birds are highly gregarious most of the 

 year, they are not so while nesting. Yet occasionally imusually 

 large numbers may nest in a small area. Jensen (1923) reports 

 that 22 pairs nested on the Indian School campus in northern Santa 

 Fe County, N. Mex., during the summer of 1921. He found fresh 

 eggs from June 15 to October 1. 



Like most other goldfinches this subspecies is a late nester. Most 

 nests are not built until June, when the reproductive activities of 

 most other birds are well under way. Active nests reported in Sep- 

 tember and October are probably second nestings. Mrs, J. Murray 

 Speirs writes (in litt.) of a nest she and her husband observed about 

 18 feet up in an acacia above a stream near the highway at Lyons, 

 Colo., Sept. 8, 1956. The male parent was feeding the young, at 

 least three in number, which seemed almost ready to leave the nest. 



A favorite nesting site is in the cottonwood trees which abound 

 along the streams in much of this form's breeding range. It has 

 also been reported nesting in walnut, pecan, yellow pine, fig and 

 other trees as well as in grape vines and in shrubs of various kinds. 



The nest is a neat cup of compactly woven plant fibers, fine grass 

 stems, weed bark, and fragments of moss. It is lined with vegetable 

 down such as that of the cottonwood tree or thistle, sometimes with 

 cotton, a few feathers, or other soft materials. One nest measured 3 

 inches in diameter and 1% inches in depth. In general the nests are 

 similar in structure to those of the green-backed and American 

 goldfinches. 



Eggs. — This species usually lays 4 or 5 eggs, sometimes as few as 3 

 or as many as 6. The eggs are ovate with some tendency to round- 

 ovate, and have very little lustre, They are very pale bluish-white 

 and unspotted. Occasionally an egg may have a few very small 

 scattered spots of reddish brown. 



The measurements of 28 eggs average 15.4 by 12.0 milUmeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 16.3 by 12.2, 15.0 by 12.6, 

 U.5 by 11.6, and 15.0 by 11.0 miUimeters. 



