276 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



species reported in Great Britian had wandered to that region. It is, moreover, improbable 

 that so many individuals as the 6 seen by Mr Thayer would have crossed the ocean on 

 board a ship, as sometimes happens to single individuals of other species. 



Astragalinus tristis tristis (Linnaeus) 

 Goldfinch 



Plates 78 and 79 



Fringilla tristis Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:181 

 Carduelis tristis DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 166, fig. 151 

 Astragalinus tristis tristis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 248. 



No. 529 



astragalinus, Gr., ia-rpayaXtvoc, "an unknown small bird " (D'Arcy W. Thompson), 

 " a goldfinch " (Liddell & Scott); tristis, Lat., sad, alluding to its call 



Description. Bill conical, sharp pointed; tail forked. Male: Bright 

 lemon yellow, the crown, wings and tail black; wing bars and streaks on 

 the wings and tail, white. Female: Grayish olive brown tinged with green, 

 especially on the throat and sides of the neck; wings and tail blackish; 

 wings barred and the secondaries and tail feathers streaked with whitish; 

 under parts dull white tinged with yellowish. Male in winter: Plumage 

 resembles the female, but the wings and tail blacker, the body plumage 

 much browner, the throat and sides of the neck more tinged with yellowish 

 green, the lesser wing coverts and the upper tail coverts bright yellow as in 

 summer. Young resemble the female. 



Length 4.75-5.2 inches; extent 8.8-9.25; wing 5.82; tail 1.95; bill .4; 

 tarsus .54. 



Distribution. This species inhabits eastern North America from 

 southern Manitoba, central Quebec and Newfoundland southward to 

 eastern Colorado, Arkansas and northern Georgia, in winter extending as 

 far southward as the gulf coast. In New York it is a common resident, 

 though less common in winter, fairly abundant as a breeding species in 

 all portions of the State except the dense portion of the forested districts; 

 found in winter throughout the State, but more commonly in the southern 

 portion. Many bird students assume that the Goldfinch migrates like 

 many of our sparrows and warblers because the male birds, assuming 

 their brilliant hues about the last of April or the first week in May, seem 

 to appear suddenly; although, if they had visited the swamps and fields, 



