316 
FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 
are whitish. The wings and tail, which always afford the most 
constant specific characters, are like those of the male, except 
that the black colour is less intense, and the white is less pure, 
being slightly tinged with rufous. 
In this state of plumage, the bird closely resembles the 
Fringilla citrinella of the south of Europe, which, however, can 
always be distinguished from it by several characters, but more 
particularly by its greenish yellow rump, and by being desti- 
tute 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 distin- 
guished 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 distinguished. 
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 figure in the 
annexed plate exhibits the invariable colours of the female and 
young, as well as the appearance of the male for the remain- 
ing 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 
I shot near Philadelphia, in the month of April, and which is 
