Mr. Bicknell says it is the only vireo that sings
as it flies.
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (Spinus tristis) Finch family
Called also: WILD CANARY; YELLOWBIRD; THISTLE BIRD
Length -- 5 to 5.2 inches. About an inch smaller than the English
sparrow.
Male -- In summer plumage: Bright yellow, except on crown of
head, frontlet, wings, and tail, which are black. Whitish
markings on wings give effect of bands. Tail with white on
inner webs. In winter plumage: Head yellow-olive; no frontlet;
black drab, with reddish tinge; shoulders and throat yellow;
soiled brownish white underneath.
Female -- Brownish olive above, yellowish white beneath.
Range -- North America, from the tropics to the Fur Countries and
westward to the Columbia River and California. Common
throughout its range.
Migrations -- May-October. Common summer resident, frequently
Seen throughout the winter as well.
An old field, overgrown with thistles and tall, stalky wild flowers, is the
paradise of the goldfinches, summer or winter. Here they congregate in happy
companies while the sunshine and goldenrod are as bright as their feathers,
and cling to the swaying slender stems that furnish an abundant harvest,
daintily. lunching upon the fluffy seeds of thistle blossoms, pecking at the
mullein-stalks, and swinging airily among the asters and Michaelmas daisies;
or, when snow covers the same field with a glistening crust, above which the
brown stalks offer only a meagre dinner, the same birds, now sombrely clad in
winter feathers, cling to the swaying stems with cheerful fortitude.
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