Photo by C. H. Brown
Red-spotted Purple Butterfly on Queen Anne’s Lace
In the early spring we hear a concert of sweet voices coming from a flock of songsters in the summit of the elm, their favorite tree. Their period of love-making is long, as all their brothers and sisters of the same order have with very few exceptions finished their family duties before the American goldfinch (Astragalinus tristis) looks about and selects for his nest the fork of a bush or tree handy to some thistly field. Here the family of three to six young is reared. From his fondness for thistle seeds he gets his common name, “thistle-bird.” As the thistles ripen he can be seen picking away as he clings to the burr in every conceivable position, releasing the “witches” that float gracefully off with the gentle breezes over the field; regardless is he of the bees that tend the rose-purple flower-heads scattered here and there among the ripe thistle-tops. Over yonder a colony of the delicate blossoms of the “Queen Anne’s lace” is quite conspicuous. Hovering around are many flies and bees. A red-spotted purple butterfly lights gracefully on the plant, folding and unfolding its beautifully colored wings. He is safe from any molestation on the part of the goldfinch, who is essentially a seed-eater. Thus it is that these two highly-decorated creatures may often be seen gathering food side by side in the meadow.
There are some advantages in late building, and especially to the thistle-birds. They get rid of the parasite cowbird, whose season for propagation must needs be earlier in order to afford sufficient time for development; for the young cowbird is more phlegmatic in temperament and slower in growth, nor does he stay with us so late as the young goldfinch. Again, the thistle-birds, being seed-eaters, find a more bountiful supply of food as the July days approach.
Young Goldfinch
Photo by C. H. Brown