510 
GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 
bent-grass. A few lint-threads of Indian hemp and cater- 
pillars’ silk, are occasionally thrown over the exterior ma- 
terials, and agglutinated to them for the purpose of more 
securely holding the whole together. They never make 
use of any external patches of lichen , nor use this sub- 
stance in any manner ; and the eggs, 3 to 5, are white, 
without any spots . This description is taken from 8 nests 
of the same bird, which, with 3 or 4 more not inspected, 
were all made towards the close of summer, chiefly in the 
Botanic Garden at Cambridge. I have, the present sea- 
son (1831), examined several more nests agreeing with 
the above description ; and from the late period at which 
they begin to breed, it is impossible that they can ever 
act in the capacity of nurses to the Cow Troopial. This 
procrastination appears to be occasioned by the lack of 
sufficiently nutritive diet, the seeds on which they prin- 
cipally feed not ripening usually before July. 
The American Goldfinch is never less than 5 inches in length ; of 
a rich lemon-yellow, but nearly white on the rump and vent, and a 
little paler on the upper part of the back. The crown, wings, and 
tail, black ; the shoulder and its coverts olive-yellow, fading into 
white; the gi eater coverts and tertials tipt and edged with white ; 
the tail handsomely forked, with the feathers acute at the points, and 
shaded off into white on the inner webs towards their tips. The bill 
and legs pale reddish-yellow, the latter much fainter. — In the month 
of September the male moults into a new and humble dress of brown- 
ish olive, nearly similar to that of the female ; the wing-coverts and 
tertials are now edged with white, slightly tinged with rufous. At 
this time, the bill and feet are brownish. Some males are provided 
with a white wing-spot, visible only when the coverts are elevated. 
ARKANSAS SISKIN. 
{Fringilla psaitria, Say. Bonap. Am. Orn. i. p. 54. pi. 6 . fig. 3. 
[male]. Phil. Museum, No. 6278.) 
Sf. Charact. — Olivaceous ; beneath wholly yellow ; crown, wings, 
and tail black ; a white wing-spot ; lesser wing-coverts dusky 
