BIRD LIFE IN WINTER 



closely, I saw that the two birds were entirely occu- 

 pied with each other. 



They behaved exactly as if they were comparing 

 crowns, and each extolHng his own. Their heads 

 were bent forward, the red crown patch uncovered 

 and showing as a large, brilHant cap, their tails 

 were spread, and the side feathers below the wings 

 were fluffed out. They did not come to blows, but 

 followed each other about amid the branches, ut- 

 tering their thin, shrill notes and displaying their 

 ruby crowns to the utmost. Evidently it was some 

 sort of strife or dispute or rivalry that centred about 

 this brilliant patch. 



Few persons seem aware that the goldfinch is also 

 a winter bird, — it is so brilliant and familiar in sum- 

 mer and so neutral and withdrawn in winter. The 

 call-note and manner of flight do not change, but the 

 color of the males and their habits are very different 

 from their color and habits in summer. In winter 

 they congregate in small, loose flocks, both sexes of 

 a dusky yellowish brown, and feed upon the seeds 

 of grasses and weeds that stand above the snow in 

 fields and along fences. 



Day after day I have observed a band of five 

 or six of them feeding amid the dry stalks of the 

 evening primrose by the roadside. They are adepts 

 in extracting the seed from the pods. How pretty 

 their call to each other at such times, — paisley of 

 'peasely, with the rising inflection ! 



170 



