YELLOW BIRD, OR GOLDFINCH. 
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and tail are black, the former tipt and edged with white, 
the interior webs of the latter are also white ; the fore 
part of the head is black, the bill and legs of a reddish 
cinnamon colour. This is the summer dress of the 
male ; but in the month of September the yellow 
gradually changes to a brown olive, and the male and 
female are then nearly alike. They build a very neat 
and delicately formed little nest, which they fasten to 
the twigs of an apple tree, or to the strong branching 
stalks of hemp, covering it on the outside with pieces 
of lichen, which they find on the trees and fences ; 
these they glue together with their saliva, and after- 
wards line the inside with the softest downy substances 
they can procure. The female lays five white eggs, 
faintly marked at the greater end ; and they generally 
raise two broods in a season. The males do not arrive 
at their perfect plumage until the succeeding spring ; 
wanting, during that time, the black on the head, and 
the white on the wing's being* of a cream colour. In 
the month of April they begin to change their winter 
dress, and, before the middle of May, appear in brilliant 
yellow: the whole plumage towards its roots is of a 
dusky bluish black. 
The song of the yellow bird resembles that of the 
goldfinch of Britain ; but is in general so weak as to 
appear to proceed from a considerable distance, when 
perhaps the bird is perched on the tree over your head. 
I have, however, heard some sing in cages with great 
energy and animation. On their first arrival in Penn- 
sylvania, in February, and until early in April, they 
associate in flocks, frequently assembling in great 
numbers on the same tree to bask and dress themselves 
in the morning sun, singing in concert for half an hour 
together ; the confused mingling of their notes forming 
a kind of harmony not at all unpleasant. 
About the last of November, and sometimes sooner, 
they generally leave Pennsylvania, and proceed to the 
south ; soRie, however, are seen even in the midst of 
the severest winters. Their flight is not direct, but 
in alternate risings and sinkings ; twittering as they fly, 
