FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



287 



Their flight is expressive of their joyous nature, and as they bound 

 through the air they luun a gay 



"»^ 



•p< 



•/•••■. 



'^^i-: 



•'W' 



''*»'\- 



Their love song is delivered with an ecstasy and abandon which car- 

 ries them off their feet, and they circle over the fields sowing the air 

 with music. The song has a canarylike character, and while it is less 

 varied it possesses a wild, ringing quality wanting in the cage-bound 

 bird's best efforts. 



The Black-headed Goldfinoic (5S£. Spl/tus iiotatiiti), a, Mexican species, 

 Ib recorded by Audubon from Kentucky, where its occurrence is, of course, 

 purely uccidental. 



633. Spinus pinuis (Wih.). Pine Siskin; Pine Finch. .-!(/.— Hill 



sharply pointetl, a small tuft of bristly feathers over tlie nostrils; upper parts 

 streaked with black, the feathers iiiarj^iued witli butty; wings fuscous, most 

 of the feathers marjj^ined with yellow, and yellow at the haxe ; tail fuscous, 

 all but the mldille featliers i/illow tit th< bane ; under parts white, tinged with 

 butfy and heavily streaked with black, b., 500; W., 2-70; T., 1-00; B., -40. 



liemdi'kn. — The yellow markings in the wings and tail of this species will 

 always serve to distinguish it. 



KaiKje.—'Horih America generally ; breeds mostly north of tli^ United 

 States; winters as far south as the (Jidf. 



Washington, irregularly abundant W. V., Oct. to Apl. Sing Sing, irregu- 

 lar P. R. Cambridge, irregular W. V., Sept. to May ; sometimes very abun- 

 dant. 



Nest, of twigs and rootlets, lined with plant down and long hairs, in conif- 

 erous trees. E<jtjs, four, pale bluish white, '.hinly spotted with reddish brown, 

 •67 X -46. 



Like the American Crossbill, this bird is rather erratic in its move- 

 ments, and its presence or absonce at any .season can never be {)redicted 

 with certainty. It resembles the American Goldfinch in habits, but is 

 more often found about coniferous trees, and its notes and song are 

 less musical. It has been found nesting in May at Sing Sing, N. Y. 

 (Fisher), and at Cornwall-on-IIudson (Allen). 



Carduelis carduelis f Z/"n.). Eukopean Goldfinch. vl(/.— Region 

 about the base of tiie bill britrht red; crown, ami a stripe extemling from it 

 on to the sides of the neck, black; Imck cinnamon-brown; wings black, 

 crossed by a broad yellow band ; tail black, the iimer webs of the feathers 

 tipi)cd with white ; under parts white, tlie sides tinged with the color of tlio 

 back. L., 5-50 ; VV., 3-00 ; T., 2-95 ; B., "50. 



