Fringilla tristis, LINNÆUS; Le Chardonneret jaune, BUFFON; Der
Gelbe Stieglitz, BECHSTEIN.
This bird is as large as a linnet, its length being about four inches
and a third. The beak and feet are whitish; the iris is nut-brown; the
forehead is black, and the rest of the body yellow.
The female has no black on the forehead; the upper part of her body is
of an olive green; the throat, breast and rump of a bright yellow; the
belly and vent white; the wings and tail blackish.
The young males at first exactly resemble the females, the only
difference being the black forehead.
These birds build twice a year, in spring and autumn. Edwards says that
they also moult twice, so that it is only during the summer that they
are of the colours described above. In the winter the top of the male's
head is black; the throat, neck, and breast, yellow; the rump also
yellow, but of a whitish hue; the feathers of the back olive brown,
lighter at the edges; the wings and the tail black, with white edges to
almost all the feathers.
The female is generally of a lighter colour, and the top of the head is
not black: thus we perceive that in winter these birds very much
resemble our siskins.
OBSERVATIONS.--These American birds repair in the summer in great
numbers to the state of New York; they live on the seeds of different
kinds of thistles, like our goldfinches, and eat the same food when
caged. They are easily tamed, and sometimes even lay in captivity.
Their eggs are of a pearl gray, but I am ignorant whether they are
ever productive in confinement.