te awe hRiCAN. GOLDFINCH. 
CHRYSOMITRIS TRISTRIS, (L1NN.) BONAP. 
PLATE I11E—MALE AND FEMALE. 
di OST people have an intimate ac- 
~@if quaintance with this innocent and 
| happy little bird. Probably, no 
other single species has had so 
many local appellations bestowed 
upon it as the one of which we 
now attempt a simple history and 
description. Known in various lo- 
calities as the Yellow-bird, he has. 
also, from peculiarities of dress, 
habit and surroundings, been chris- 
ORIGINAL INITIAL. 
tened the Hemp-bird, Lettuce-bird, Thistle-bird, Thistle-finch, Salad- 
bird, Yellow-finch, Black-winged Yellow-bird and Goldfinch, besides 
other appellations spontaneously bestowed from love, and with careless, 
though in many cases with apt freedom by those who welcome his 
presence and cultivate an acquaintance with his sweet and winning ways. 
The various names which I have cited, are, from the very apparent in- 
tuition of their bestowal, a fitting index to the reflective mind, of the hab- 
its and dress of the American Goldfinch. In some isolated sections of 
