AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 



529. Astragalinus tristis. 5j4 inches 



These beautiful little creatures are often known as 

 Thistle-birds and Wild Canaries, the former name be- 

 cause they are often seen on thistles, from the down 

 of which their nests are largely made, and the latter 

 name because of the sweet canary-like song. Their 

 flight is a peculiar series of undulations accompanied 

 by an intermittent twitter. They are very sociable 

 and breed usually in communities as well as travel in 

 flocks in the winter. Their food is chiefly of seeds and 

 they often come to gardens in fall and winter to par- 

 take of sunflower seeds, these flowers often being 

 raised for the sole purpose of furnishing food for the 

 finches in the winter. 



Song. Sweet, prolonged, and canary-like; call, a 

 musical tcheer, and a twittering in flight. 



Nest. Of thistle down, plant fibres and grasses, in 

 forks of bushes, most often willows or alders near 

 water. Four or five unmarked, pale bluish eggs. 



Range. N. A. east of the Rockies; breeds from Vir- 

 ginia and Missouri north to Labrador; winters in U. S. 



