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The Goldfinch 
In spring, the birds often visit the orchards and destroy canker-worms 
In grain-fields they devour the Hessian fly, and, in winter, they eat 
thousands of eggs of plant-lice; one observer found 2,200 eggs of the 
white-birch aphid in a single stomach. Another noted 
?nsectsf a fort y Goldfinches systematically examining 
larch-trees, working from the top to the lower 
branches in search of the eggs of a plant-louse that frequents larches. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Goldfinch belongs to the Order Passer es and the Family Fringillidae — the 
Finches. Its scientific name is Astragalinus tristis. It ranges through eastern 
North America, breeding from southern Manitoba, central Quebec, and Newfound- 
land southward to eastern Colorado, southern Oklahoma, and northern Georgia, 
and wintering from southern Ontario southward to the Gulf Coast. The sub- 
species are A. t. pallidus, of the Rocky Mountain plateau, and A. t. salicamans, 
of the Pacific Coast. 
Goldfinches in the Making 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents, each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
