Locker, John 1992 Lesser Goldfinch Carduelis psaltria Armatary Ranch 2 miles E. of Armatary, Kenedy Co. Texas. Elevation 20 feet. May 10 Particularly after the reinforcement of yesterday's extensive tour of the ranch property, I must note the distribution goldfinches on the Rattles. At this season, there are no flocks. Except at the water hole in the mosquito area near my camp, when I saw two pairs coming to drink April 27 and again April 28, I saw goldfinches only in pairs or two pairs singing in territorial disputes. In such disputes, males chased one another & females me, females. Even where live oak woodland is quite extensive, goldfinches are not numerous there. The only woodland in which I found more than one pair roughly triangular (I think only two pairs) was about 110 meters x 70 meters x 85 meters. I am not certain why the oaks are so well divided up, though fences or flow rubs appear to be the most important food at this time. In any event, by comparison to oak woodland in California, and certainly compared to riparian settings in the arid Southwest, these goldfinches are very over-dispersed. This was really brought home on the ranch tour yesterday, when almost every woodland of Virginia Live Oaks had a single singing pair goldfinch audible, with only heard at any distance (70-100 meters or greater) if at all. Some oak woodlands had no audible goldfinches, and most of those were small. Not even the largest woodland had 2 singing pairs. Even though yesterday's weather was overcast, song activity was considerable almost all morning, and not only for goldfinches, so I don't think these observations are skewed seriously by undetected silent goldfinches.