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Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 
retreat overgrown with tall trees and near a a, 
dear to the solitary vireo as well when the noe 
proaches. High up in the trees we hear its rather sad, saa 
strain, that is more in harmony with the dim forest than v ‘tht le 
gay flower garden, where, if the truth must be told, its son; ee 
both monotonous and depressing. Mr. Bicknell says itist ne 
only vireo that sings as it flies. | 
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American Goldfinch 
(Spinus tristis) Finch family 
Called also: WILD CANARY; YELLOWBIRD; 
BIRD Bes: 
Length—5 to 5.2 inches. About an inch smaller than the English . 
sparrow. i? 
Male—In.summer plumage: Bright yellow, except on crown | 
head, frontlet, wings, an which are ni ish : 
markings on wings give effect of bands. Tail with white o 
inner webs. Jn winter pl e: Head yellow-olive ; a ‘ea 
frontlet ; back drab, with reddish tinge ; shoulders and throat 
yellow ; soiled brownish white underneath. ts 
Female—Brownish olive above, yellowish white beneath. 
Fange—North America, from the tropics to the Fur Countries Pr 
westward to the Columbia River and California. Common — 
throughout its range. 
Migrations—May. October. Common summer resident, 
quently seen throughout the winter as well. 
An old field, overgrown with thistles and tall, stalky wild 
flowers, is the paradise of the goldfinches, summer or winter. — 
Here they congregate in happy companies while the sunshine — 
and goldenrod are as bright as their feathers, and cling to the = =: 
swaying, slender stems that furnish an abundant harvest, daintily _ ~ 
unching upon the fluffy seeds of thistle blossoms, pecking atthe = 
mullein-stalks, and swinging airily among the asters and Michael- a 
mas daisies ; or, when snow covers the same field with a glis- : 
tening crust, above which the brown stalks offer only a meagre — 
dinner, the same birds, now sombrely clad in winter feathers, — 
cling to the swaying stems with cheerful fortitude. 
At your approach, the busy company rises on the wing, and : oa 
with peculiar, wavy flight rise and fall through the air, marking 
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