2 
The American Goldfinch 
exaltation, and when they add song, it is the very abandon of happiness. Even 
in winter, when the fields are brown and the trees are bare, a flock of Gold- 
finches adds the charm of life to an otherwise dead outlook. 
The Goldfinch migrates, but not to the extent that the truly migratory 
species do. The Warblers, for instance, desert their summer homes and, after 
making long journeys southward, spend the winter beyond the limits of the 
United States; the Goldfinches, on the contrary, gradually move southward 
NEST AND EGGS OF AMERICAN GOLDFINCH 
Photographed from nature by C. William Beebe 
as far as the Gulf States and in winter are found from the Gulf coast as far 
north as the latitude of central New York. Their breeding range is from 
the Carolinas westward to the Rocky Mountains and northward to the 
British Provinces and southern Labrador; consequently they are permanent 
residents in a large part of the United States where their migratory and 
breeding ranges overlap. There are several closely related forms or sub- 
species of the Goldfinch* found in the West and on the Mexican border 
Pale Goldfinch in Rocky Mountain district; Willow Goldfinch in Pacific coast district. 
