CHRYSOMITIUS TRISTIS. 
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GENUS III. CHRYSOMITRIS. THE GOLDFINCHES. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, small and pointed. Wings, long. Tail, forked. Coracoids, shorter than the top of keel, which is but 
little higher than one half the width of sternum. Size, small. 
All the species within our limits are more or less conspicuously colored with yellow, excepting pinus which has also 
pale-yellow markings on the wings and tail. 
CHRYSOMITRIS TRISTIS. 
Common American Goldfinch:. 
Chrysomitris tristis Bon., List, 1838. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, rather robust. Tongue, quite thick, tipped with hair-like, horny fibers. Sternum as given above. 
Color. Adult male in spring. Bright lemon-yellow. Top of head,wings and tail, black. Lesser wing coverts, tips of 
greater, forming bars, outer edges of secondaries, tips of primaries, elongated spots on inner webs of terminal portion of 
tail feathers, upper and under tail coverts and under wing coverts, white. 
Adult female in spring. Greenish-brown, above and yellowish-green, beneath. The wings and tail are brown, marked 
with white, which is more restricted than in the male, and is frequently of a smoky tinge. 
Adult male in winter. Similar to the Spring female above but smoky-white beneath, with the front and sides of the 
head, shoulders, and rump, more or less tinged with yellow. The white markings are broader and more extended. 
Adult female in winter. Similar to the male but grayer above and inclined to be reddish-brown on the rump and lower 
back, while the yellowish is scarcely perceptible. 
Young. Summer males of the preceding year exhibit a grayish patch, of a greater or less extent, On the upper back. 
There are frequently a few greenish feathers in the black of the head. The females of the same age are more reddish above. 
Young of the year. Both sexes are highly tinged, above and below, with reddish-brown; while the white markings of 
the wings and tail are replaced by this rusty color. 
Nestlings. Do not differ from the above, excepting that the throat is destitute of feathers long after the other portions 
of the body are covered. Contrary to the rule, even in this Family, nestlings do not moult the first autumn. 
OBSERVATIONS. - 
There is no difficulty in recognizing this species in the adult stage, and the young may always be distinguished by the 
wing and tail markings as given. There is no species which has come under my observation where there is absolutely so 
little variation as in the present. In a series cf some eighty summer skins, now before me, the yellow varies slightly in 
shade, but this is partly due to age. The black cf the head is also more restricted in some than in others, aside from these 
slight modifications, however, there is a singular uniformity of coloration; while in winter there is but little more variation. 
A very large specimen from Utah, in the bright plumage of early summer, has the black of the head less extended than 
usual, which together with its uncommon size gives it a peculiar appearance. Late in summer the wear of the white edges 
causes them to appear blacker than earlier in the season. The adults undergo an entire change of plumage in the autumn, 
but in spring the feathers of the wings and tail are retained while the remainder of the body acquires a new dress. It is 
noteworthy that this is the only species among Fringilline birds, which I have examined, that is not streaked beneath 'in 
some stage of plumage, but I cannot find any indication of those markings even in the nestlings where they usually ap¬ 
pear in species which are unmarked when adult. 
Distributed in summer throughout northern and middle North America; winters in the middle and southern portions. 
The northern range, during winter, varies somewhat in different seasons, being governed by the supply of food, which is 
largely regulated by the depth of snow. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements cf twenty-four specimens. Length, 5‘60; stretch, 9 - 05; wing, 2*85; tail, 1*85; bill,*48; tarsus 
*45. Longest specimen, 6-00; greatest extent of wing, 9*50; longest wing, 3*00; tail, 2 - 07; bill, *50; tarsus, *57. Shortest 
specimen, 4 - 75; smallest extent of wing, 8*75; shortest wing. 2*60; tail, 1*60; bill, *45; tarsus,’40. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed in trees. They are compact structures composed outwardly of fibrous bark, leaves, weeds, and thistle 
down. They are oftener smoothly lined with silvery-white thistle down than with any other material, when they present a 
very pretty appearance, but specimens before me vary in being lined with fine roots, horse hair, or fern cotton. Three are 
partly composed cf common cotton, while one has rags and string neatly woven into the external portion. Dimensions; ex¬ 
ternal diameter, 3 - 00, internal, 2*00. External depth, 2*25 internal, 1*25. 
Eggs, four in number oval in form, pale bluish-green in color unspotted, in all that I have examined. Dimensions 
from *65x-50 to *70x*53. 
BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 
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