222 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



out for the lawbreakers. The birds have been sold in the bird 

 stores or sent to Europe as red or gray Linnets. This may 

 account for a local scarcity of this Finch in some places where 

 it was formerly common. 



American Goldfinch. Yellow Bird. Wild Canary. Thistle Bird. 



Astralaginus tristis. 

 Length. — About five inches. 

 Adult Male. — Bright, rich canary-yellow; crown black; wings and tail black, 



white-marked. 

 Adult Female. — Above, brownish-olive; below, grayish-white, tinged with 



yellow; wings and tail much like those of male, but more brownish. 

 Young. — Much like female. 



Male in Winter. — Like female, but retaining his black-and white wings and tail. 

 Nest. — A cup of grass and moss, down-lined; built in a fork or branch-crotch 



from six to forty feet up. 

 Eggs. — Bluish-white. 

 Season. — Resident, but local and wandering in winter. 



The Goldfinch is almost as well known as the Bluebird, 

 and is even more brilliant in coloring. Its common call, 

 per-chic'-o-ree, given repeatedly, as it bounds through the 



air in graceful undula- 

 tions, will be recognized 

 by all who are at all 

 familiar with bird life. 

 This bright bird wan- 

 ders among orchards and 

 groves, and flits about 

 the fields, pastures, and 

 gardens long after other 

 birds have begun their 

 family cares ; for it is not 

 until July that the Gold- 

 finch usually undertakes 

 to build its nest. Its 

 brood once reared, all the 

 members of the family 

 may be seen wandering 

 about once more. In the garden they are sometimes known 

 as "salad birds," for they are particularly attentive to nice, 

 crisp lettuce, from which at early morning they drink the dew, 

 and perhaps eat a few tender morsels, no doubt paying for 



Fig. 82.— American Goldfinch, male, about 

 one-half natural size. 



