AMERICAN GOLDFINCH 177 



the belly, and by the absence of the blackish throat. (See 

 Fig. 53.) 



American Goldfinch. Astragalinus tristis 

 5.10 



Ad. $. — Crown black; body bright yellow; wings and tail 

 black, spotted with white. Ad. 9. — Upper parts brownish-olive; 

 under parts yellowish, with a dusky wash on the throat and 

 breast; wings and tail like the male's, but duller. $ in winter. — 

 Like the female, but with black-and-white wings and tail. Im. — 

 Like winter adults, but browner, the wing-markings brownish in- 

 stead of white. 



Nest, a, gray cup, lined with down, placed in fork from five to 

 thirty feet up. Eggs, white. 



The Goldfinch is a common permanent resident of New 

 England and New York. As winter approaches, flocks, 

 sometimes of over fifty birds, gather together and wander 

 about, feeding on the seeds of birches or on the seeds of 

 weeds and grasses in neglected fields. At all seasons the 

 birds are fond of the seeds of composite flowers ; a gay 

 company often scatter over the lawn and feed on dandelion 

 heads ; bachelor's buttons, thistles, and sunflowers also at- 

 tract them. By May the males have recovered their yellow 

 and black, and begun to twitter their sweet if rather char- 

 acterless song. They are still in flocks, even when other 

 birds are building. By June, however, they are met with 

 in pairs, the dark female with the bright male, and by July 

 they are building in the sugar maples or apple-trees. 



While the female is brooding the male goes swinging 

 over in deep undulations, calling te tee' de de, and she 

 answers with a simple te' de dee, te' de dee. When the 

 male sings on the wing, he flies around in circles, with 

 broad, fluttering wings, and keeping the same level ; but the 

 ordinary flight is undulating, and in midsummer the male 

 often seems to accent the curve, as if enjoying the great 

 plunge through the air. The voice is always sweet ; one 

 call-note is very like a call of the Canary, swee-ee, with a 



