FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 313 



a fruit or shj^de tree, often close to dwellings. Indian 

 hemp, vegetable-down, and plant fibers are securely woven 

 and matted together, forming a substantial, broad-brimmed, 

 deeply hollowed nest, into which a bountiful supply of 

 thistle-down is placed. The nest is usually situated within 

 twenty feet of the ground. They often nest on the tops of 

 thistles, from which habit, and because of fondness for 

 seeds and down, they often take the name thistle bird. 

 Three to six faint bluish-white eggs are laid. The period 

 of incubation is two weeks. 



The nest of the goldfinch here illustrated was built in 

 an oak shrub, five feet from the ground, and was taken 

 September 1, 1901. At this late date, incubation had only 

 commenced, and, although the timber about the nesting site 

 swarmed wath migrants passing southward, IVIother Gold- 

 finch expressed no anxiety over the late condition of her 

 household affairs. 



THE ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH* 



This bright and sprightly bird enlivens the shrubby 

 ravines and weedy places from Oregon southward through 

 the United States, and from the Pacific Coast eastward 

 into Colorado. Throughout its range it is quite common, 

 and nests on the plains and also in the mountains to a dis- 

 tance of nine thousand feet. Abundant in many mountain- 

 ous regions, it has been given the name Rocky ]Mountain 

 Goldfinch, and the olive-green color of the plumage of its 

 back has given it the very appropriate name Arkansas 

 Green-backed Goldfinch. 



