154 



THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



white ring round the beak. The Goldfinch 

 is a lively handsome bird, continually in 

 motion, and uttering its pleasant and sonorous 

 song at all periods of the year, except when 

 moulting. It consists, besides several intricate 

 and twittering notes, of certain tones, which 

 resemble jhose of a harp. Of all the sweet 

 songsters that delight the ear with their music, 

 and the eye with their lively motions, 

 graceful forms, and delicately blended 

 tints, there is none more universally admired 

 than this beautiful finch, termed Carduelis, or 

 Thistle Finch, on account of its fondness for 

 the downy seeds ot a class of plants, which 

 would be much more troublsome to the 

 agriculturist, were it not for the assistance 

 rendered by this bright-winged goldfinch 

 How curiously they hang on the prickly stems 

 and leaves of the thistles — with what adroitness 

 do they thrust their bills into the heart of the 

 involucres — and how little do they regard any 

 one as they ply their pleasant pursuit, un. 

 conscious of danger, and piping their mellow 

 call-notes. 



THE CHAFFINCH. {Fringuta codebs^ 

 Der Buchjink.) 



Of these lovely song- birds 40 pairs were 

 introduced by the Society into Oregon in 1889- 



The Chaffinch is found all over Europe, and 

 is exceeding common in Germany. It is a 

 true bird of passage, although some birds may 

 occasionally winter here. Their time of de- 

 parture lasts from the beginning of October till 

 the middle of November, and they return 

 throughout March. It is wellknown that the 

 Chaffinch, on account of its beautiful and 

 extraordinary song, is the favorite of many 

 persons. It is 6>^ inches in length of which 

 the tail measures 2|4f inches. The beak, 

 which is conical, as is the case with all birds 

 of this genus {Fringilla), is white in winter, 

 but at the time of pairing, when the bird 

 begins to sing, it becomes dark blue, and 

 remains so till the moulting season. The iris 

 is chestnut brown, the feet are 9 lines high, 

 and blackish brown. The claws are very 

 sharp. The forehead is black, the top of the 

 head and nape of the neck, grayish blue, and 



in older birds dark blue with a very few 

 feathers standing up like a crest. The upper 

 part of the back is chestnut brown, tinged with 

 olive green; the lower part of the back, and 

 the rump, are greenish. The cheeks, throat, 

 breast, and belly, are a reddish chestnut brown, 

 tinged with white towards the vent. The 

 shanks are gray, the pen feathers bordered on 

 the outer plume with green, on the inner with 

 white, and white also at the loot. The small- 

 er coverts are white; the larger black, tipped 

 witii white, from which arise two white stripes 

 across the upper part of the wing The tail 

 feathers are black, the two in center being 

 with ashen gray, and the two on the outside 

 having each a large wedge-shaped white spot. 

 All hdve a hardly perceptible border of green. 

 The female, which is easily distinguished 

 from the male, is smaller; on the head, neck, 

 and upper part of the back, greyish brown; on 

 the lower part, dirty white; on the breast red- 

 dish grey. The beak is gre)ish brown in 

 summer, and in winter whitish grey. The food 

 of the Chaffinch consists of seeds, grain and idl 

 kinds of insects. 



The Chaffinch's nest, which is built upon 

 the branch of a tree, is constructed with great 

 ingenuity. Its upper part is formed like a 

 compressed sphere, as round as if it had been 

 turned, and fastened to the bough by cobv\ebs 

 and hair. It is composed of moss and small 

 twigs, lined .on the inside with feathers, 

 thistle-down, and hair, and covered outwardly 

 with the lichens of the trees on which it stands. 

 The reason of this last mentioned precaution is 

 probably to elude hostile observations, at all 

 events, it is very difficult to distinguish the 

 Chaffinch's nest from the trunk of the tree to 

 which it is attached. The female hatches two 

 broods every year, laying each time four to five 

 light bluish grey eggs, covered with coj'per- 

 colored spots and stripes. 



The first brood, as indeed is the case with 

 all birds which breed twice a year, consists 

 almost exclusively of males; the second as 

 exclusively of females. 



The chief attractive qualities of the Chaffinch 

 is undoubtedly its fine song. It has besides, 



