704 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
On the return in the spring, it was seen at Apache, April 26, 1886 (Anthony), 
and at Santa Fe, May 6, 1903 (Merriam). 
The form of this species called by Doctor Coues Astragalinus psaltria arizonae, 
and described from a specimen taken June 28, 1864, at Fort Wingate, proved to be 
only a color variation of psaltria , due to age.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In bushes or trees, a neat cup-shaped structure, of compactly woven 
plant fibers, lined with down and other soft materials. Eggs: Usually 4 or 5, faintly 
bluish white, normally unmarked. 
Food. —Largely weed seed. 
General Habits. —Goldfinches of whatever subspecies are among 
the most attractive of our familiar birds of the low country, and in 
New Mexico, after leaving Rosy Finches on the snow-patched peaks 
of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Crossbills in the spruces and 
firs of their forested slopes, we welcomed the sight of the little wild 
canaries, as they are sometimes called, which, with leisurely undulating 
flight and gentle deprecating calls, loitered over the sunflower-dotted 
grain fields of the Hondo Valley. Once, near Taos, a group of the 
pretty birds was seen on a cliff rose bush, one of them tweaking out 
seeds attached to the long-winged carpels. Another time one was 
seen giving his fluttering flight song. 
At Mesilla Park, where Professor Merrill found the Goldfinches 
nesting in cottonwoods, they are seen throughout the year. At Sierra 
Grande, in the middle of August, 1903, Mr. Howell found them ranging 
from the base of the mountain a short distance up into the brushy 
canyons. At Folsom, where he found them common, they were seen 
on a pine ridge back of town, and their notes were constantly heard 
from the willows inside the town. 
In Santa Fe, where they are abundant, in 1921 Mr. Jensen found 
twenty-two pairs nesting on the campus of the Indian School, and he 
found fresh eggs from June 15 to October 1 (1923b, p. 462). 
Additional Literature.—Dutcher, William, Educational Leaflet 17, Nat. 
Assoc. Audubon Soc.— Miller, O. T., Little Brothers of the Air, 244-258, 1892. 
GREEN-BACKED GOLDFINCH: Astragalinus psaltria hesperophilus Oberholser 
Plate 62 
Description.— Wing: 2.4 inches, tail 1.7, bill .3. Similar to the Arkansas 
Goldfinch, but male in fully adult plumage with ear coverts , sides of neck , nape , 
back , and rump } olive-green instead of black. 
Range. —Breeds mainly in Upper Sonoran Zone from southern Oregon and 
Utah to extreme southwestern New Mexico, Arizona, Sonora, and southern Lower 
California; winters from central California and southern Arizona to Cape San Lucas. 
State Records. —The center of abundance of the Green-backed Goldfinch is 
in California, but it ranges regularly east to Arizona, and was once taken on July 
14,1892, in the San Luis Mountains of extreme southwestern New Mexico (Mearns). 
It probably breeds in the lower parts of these and the neighboring mountains. 
