442 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



CXCI. ASTRAGALINUS Cabanis. 185 i. 

 629. American Goldfinch. 



Astragalinus tristis (Linn.) Cab. 185 i. 



Kumlien caught an adult male on shipboai'd off Cape Mugford, 

 Labrador (?), August 22nd, 1877; occurs in southern portions of 

 Labrador. Nelson writes that a bird called a " goldfinch " was 

 described accurately and asserted to occur occasionally at Fort 

 Chimo, but he did not succeed in finding it. {Packard.) A com- , 

 mon summer migrant in Newfoundland. {Reeks.) Heard but not 

 seen along the Humber River, Newfoundland, 1899. '{Louis H. 

 Porter.) Common ; a few remain all winter in Nova Scotia. 

 {Downs.) A few seen at Baddeck and Margaree, Cape Breton 

 Island, July, 1898; one pair seen on Winsloe Road, Prince Edward 

 Island, July 21st, 1888. {Macoun.) A few seen almost»daily when 

 on Prince Edward Island. {Dwight.) Mr. Bayley says it is com- 

 mon at Sydney, Cape Breton Island, breeding late in June, first 

 seen May 24th, 1891. {C.R.Harte.) Fairly common throughout 

 the year at Wolfville, Kings Co., N.S. {H. Tufts.) An abundant 

 summer resident in New Brunswick. {Chamberlain.) Irregular in 

 arriving in spring at Scotch Lake, York Co., N.B.; coming from 

 February i6th to May 28th; departing from October to December. 

 Its nests are placed in deciduous bushes and trees, the eggs num- 

 ber from 3-5. I have seen a nest so compactly built that during 

 a heavy shower in July it nearly filled with water and the birds 

 deserted it. {W. H. Moore) Restigouche valley, N.B.; always 

 near settlements. {Brittain & Cox.) Common at Gaspe, Quebec, 

 but nowhere else on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. {Brewster.) Taken 

 at Beauport ; a summer resident in eastern Quebec. {Dionne.) 

 An abundant summer resident at Montreal ; breeds in Mount 

 Royal Park, nests found containing fresh eggs from July 22nd to, 

 August 8th ; observed at Montreal from April 7th to November 

 i8th ; have been seen as late as December nth, 1890. {Wintle.) 



Abundant summer resident at Ottawa, Ont. It occasionally 

 winters here in large flocks as it did in 1888-9. {Ottawa Naturalist, 

 Vol. V.) A very common summer resident in Ontario. I have 

 seen flocks of this bird in January at Calabogie Lake, Renfrew 

 Co. and occasionally at Lansdowne on the St. Lawrence. It is a 

 very late breeder, seldom nesting until the middle of June; I have 

 seen fresh eggs in August. {Rev. C.J. Young.) An abundant 



