February in Berkeley. 



nesting in the high mountains and the 

 far north. 



Among our reliable birds who never 

 desert us the year round, the little 

 green-backed goldfinch has a tender place 

 in my memory. 1 1 is a sociable, domestic 

 body, frequenting the gardens and road- 

 sides, now among the lofty tops of the 

 eucalyptus trees, and again busily feed- 

 ing amid the weeds or upon the ground. 

 A member of the great sparrow family, 

 with the characteristic thickened beak 

 of the group, it is, nevertheless, quite 

 unlike the birds which popularly go 

 under the name of sparrows. In the 

 first place it is decidedly smaller than 

 its more familiar relatives. Moreover, 

 its plumage is of rather unusual colora- 

 tion for this family, olive-green on the 

 back and golden yellow upon the breast, 

 with a black cap to give it a more 

 jaunty appearance. 



At this season it is not in full plu- 

 mage, the colors being subdued, in 

 the female especially, to an olive-brown- 



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