14 
Nebraska Bird Review 
lowing day it was found a few feet 
from the nest and weighed 7.0 grams. 
It was located by the call for food 
which Walkinshaw (1939) describes 
as ‘che-wee’. This food call was often 
heard after the young had fledged. 
The nestlings would often begin 
to make complaining sounds when 
handled after day 10 or 11, without 
making a distinct alarm cry. If they 
gave an alarm cry, all other nest¬ 
lings would begin hopping or flying 
away. They could fly a little by day 
10 or 11 and could fly for distances 
up to 100 feet by day 13 and 14. 
On hot days, nestlings were often 
observed panting in an attempt to 
cool themselves. 
brooded the nestlings especially 
when the weather was cold. When 
the sun rays reached the nest on 
hot days, the female often hovered 
the nestlings to keep them cooler. 
Walkinshaw (1939) found that the 
female brooded the young more often 
when they were young or when it 
was raining. 
Adult birds were observed feeding 
some small caterpillars to nestlings 
on days five and six. Most crops of 
nestlings are translucent enough so 
that contents can be viewed and in 
most instances, weed seeds were most 
common. Bull thistle seeds were 
among the most common foods. One 
nestling observed in late August was 
so filled with seeds that it regur¬ 
gitated them. 
Walkinshaw (1939) reported that 
males do feed the nestlings but not 
as often as females. He found that 
males did not often remove faeces 
and did not brood the young but one 
was observed feeding the female up 
to four days after the nestlings 
hatched. 
Females often scolded whenever 
the nest was approached but males 
usually did not scold. One exception 
was a scolding male which came 
within five feet while eight-day-old 
nestlings were being measured. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
I would like to thank The Univer¬ 
sity of Toledo for aid in completing 
the study, and Midland College, Fre¬ 
mont, Nebraska, for giving me the 
time to analyze some of the data. 
C. Richard Weaver of the Ohio Agri¬ 
cultural Research and Development 
Center gave valuable statistical 
counsel and designed the computer 
programming for which he deserves 
special thanks. Robert W. Belknap 
and Charles B. Curtin gave valuable 
comments on the manuscript. 
SUMMARY 
Goldfinch nestling growth was 
studied in Toledo, Ohio, from 1963 
through 1965. Nests were visited each 
day. When neonates emerged they 
were flesh-colored. Three of 71 neo¬ 
nates had no neossoptiles on the 
ventral tract and 12 had none on 
the crural tract. The clutches re^ 
quired from less than 24 hours to 
hatch in some four-egg clutches, to 
over 48 hours in a six-egg clutch. 
Mean growth and relative growth 
rate are shown for weight and other 
body parts including feather tracts. 
Rate of growth was usually rapid in 
the first few days of nest life and 
then declined. A comparison is made 
of growth in Goldfinches and Red¬ 
winged Blackbirds throughout the 
paper, and rates of growth in weight 
are compared for several species. 
Time of feather projection and 
fringing in eight major tracts was 
recorded. The alar tract was the first 
to project from the epidermis and 
the caudal the last. The alar tract 
was the first to fringe and the cau¬ 
dal was last. One can determine the 
minimum age of nestlings by observ¬ 
ing the feather tracts. 
Eyes of nestlings begin to open 
between day three and four, are half 
open by day five and fully open by 
day seven. A higher percent of nest¬ 
lings eliminate wastes each day from 
day one through seven. One-hun- 
