AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



29 



day each little black-capped head is withdrawn from beneath the feathers 

 where it has reposed in slumber, their bills are pointed skywards, and, after 

 a few musical and expressive "dearies," their throats swell with the sweetest 

 of bird music, rivaling that of the trained Canary. The morning chorus of 

 the Goldfinches is one of the most thrilling of bird melodies and more than 

 repays the loss of a few hours sleep to hear it. 



Their food consists almost exclusively of seeds of a great variety of weeds 

 and small buds, and is insectivorous only when they are feeding their young, 

 and then only to a small extent. 



In the fall the males change their bright summer garb and assume a 

 sombre colored coat similar to that of the females ; the young are also dressed 

 in the same style. They are not migratory in the latitude of Massachusetts, 

 and large flocks of them roam about the country feeding upon what weeds 



Photo by R. H. Beebe. 



Young Goldfinches. 



