FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 213 
Fringilla citrinella of the south of Kurope, which, however, 
can always be distinguished from it by several characters, but 
more particularly by its greenish yellow rump, and by being 
destitute of the whitish spot at the tip of the inner web of the 
tail-feathers. The young are so like the females as to be dis- 
tinguished with difficulty ; their colours, however, are still less 
lively ; they assume the adult livery in the spring, but do not 
exhibit all the brilliancy of the perfect bird until the third 
moult. 
The American goldfinch moults twice a year, in the seasons 
of spring and autumn. At the spring moult, the males obtain 
their vivid colouring, which is lost at the autumnal change, 
and replaced by a more humble dress, similar to that of the 
female, from which sex they cannot then be readily distin- 
euished. The black of the wings is, however, somewhat more 
intense ; the white of the wings and of the tail is dull and 
dirty, and a yellowish tint prevails around the eyes, as well as 
on the neck. From this statement it follows, that Wilson’s 
figure represents the adult male in that brilliant dress in which 
it appears for the space of four or five months only; whilst the 
ficure in the annexed plate exhibits the invariable colours of 
the female and young, as well as the appearance of the male 
for the remaining seven months in the year. 
As the season advances, the plumage of the adult male 
gradually changes, but not simultaneously in the different in- 
dividuals,’so that in the spring and autumn we rarely find two 
that are alike; some being more or less yellow, having a rudi- 
ment of black on the head, &c., according as the moulting 
process is more or less advanced. 
A remarkable variety is exhibited in a changing male, which 
IT shot near Philadelphia in the month of April, and which is 
therefore considerably advanced towards perfect plumage. AIL 
the primaries are pure white on the outer web towards the 
base, thus constituting, in the most obvious manner, that 
white spot beyond the wing-coverts assigned by Say as a 
good discriminating mark between this species and the pre- 
