46 



JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



INTERRUPTED OBSERVATIONS 



ON A BROOD OF 



GOLDFINCHES. 



Arthur H. Norton. 



During the winter of 1901-1902 Gold- 

 finches were constant visitors to our 

 garden and larch trees by the kitchen 

 window, feeding upon the sunflower 

 heads — left for such birds as shorn d 

 choose to feed upon them— and the 

 larch cones, together with the seeds 

 of any weed that could be found pro- 

 truding through the snow. 



But with the failure of this supply, 

 they disappeared. May 19, 1902, a 

 male was heard singing about the 

 grounds and from this time forward 

 they were nearly always about. 



Late in July the singing became 

 more conspicuous, especially in a 

 particular section of the yard. 



On the fourth of August, a male in 

 an ecstacy of song was observed to 

 leave a particular tree in this quarter 

 and investigation showed that he had 

 flown from the vicinity of a nev. c m- 

 taining three eggs. 



August 5, incubation was begun by 

 the female. Unfortunately the eggs 

 were not counted. 



Throughout this period we never 

 saw her mate relieve her. 



August 16, just eleven days, two 

 young were hatched and three eggs re- 

 mained. The mother was now very 

 tame, a fact that proved very conven- 

 ient for close observation. 



On the 18th two eggs remained, and 

 on the 20th there was one. This did 

 not hatch. 



Thus the brood of four wer€ 

 hatched, August 16th, two: August 

 17th, one, and August 19th, one. The 

 brood received the tenderest care from 

 the mother, who after feeding them 

 and cleaning the nest, would brood 



them for a short period before going 

 for more food. 



This continued for less than a week, 

 when they had become strong enough 

 to move freely in the nest, and then 

 began casting the excrement, over its 

 edge. This usually caught upon the 

 woolly matter of the outer wall and re- 

 mained there, and in a short time the 

 nest had lost its neat appearance and 

 became offensive to the sight. 



This has been characteristic of all 

 the nests of this species which have 

 come to my notice. It seems due to 

 the fact that the young are fed 

 abundantly, at long intervals, and the 

 evacuation of the refuse must fre- 

 quently be performed during the ab- 

 sence of the mother. 



August 20, in attempting to photo- 

 graph the nest with its contents, I re- 

 mained upon a stepladder within a few 

 feet of it nearly half an hour. As the 

 apparatus was arranged the mother 

 was frightened from the nest. At her 

 call of alarm the male came to a near- 

 by tree, and perching upon its top- 

 most branches, frequently uttered it3 

 well known call of distress or appre- 

 hension. Soon the female came to the 

 opposite side of the nesting tree, and 

 with frequent calls approached 

 cautiously, and slowly to the edge of 

 the nest, where she proceeded to feed 

 her young. Every movement was 

 perfectly visable to me. First one, then 

 the next and so on around the nest, 

 and then again the first, and around 

 again; not one mouthful but several, 

 until each in turn was satisfied and 

 stopped opening its mouth. They 

 were clearly fed by regurgitation. 



As the mother approached, nothing 

 was to be seen in her closed bill, but 

 as she fed her brood the white, pulpy 

 looking matter was seen to flow from 

 her throat and as she worked it for- 

 ,ward with her tongue it was placed in 

 the gaping mouths of the young brood. 



