February in Berkeley, 



ish, with but a suggestion of its gaudy 

 summer attire. When in full dress the 

 wings and tail are black with conspicu- 

 ous patches of white upon them; but 

 we shall meet this little fellow again in 

 the summer-time, when the air is mild, 

 and his throat is bubbling over with 

 song. At present he is not interested 

 in love-making or anything else more 

 romantic than getting a good living of 

 dried seeds, and his note is only a high, 

 plaintive titter. 



While the green-backed goldfinch is 

 confined exclusively to the western 

 states, from the Rocky Mountains to 

 the coast, it has two near relatives, also 

 with us during the winter time, which 

 are of more universal distribution — the 

 American goldfinch and the pine-finch. 

 The former, as its name implies, is 

 found over the greater part of North 

 America, but, while it is one of the 

 most abundant of eastern birds, it is 

 much restricted in distribution in Cali- 

 fornia. About Berkeley it is found 



138 



