extended, shows mild aggression and is often performed by the victor of an encounter. The carpals-raised display has the neck retracted and the carpals raised; displayers are likely to attack their opponent. The head-forward display is where the legs are flexed, the neck extended, and the beak closed. At higher intensities, the neck is lowered, the beak is pointed at the opponent, and one or both wings are raised. In extreme cases, the neck is retracted, the bill opened, the body feathers sleeked, and the tail is fanned and raised slightly. Aggression is also displayed by showing the front of the body to another individual. Attacks include pecking at feathers, supplanting the opponent by landing next to it, and flying vertically with legs and feet extended, beaks open, and necks extended. Avoidance behaviors include showing only the side of the body to an aggressor, leaning away, flexing the legs, retracting the neck, and pointing the beak down. Breeding The breeding season begins later in the year than for any other finch and later than any other native North American bird, besides occasionally the sedge wren. This may be related to the abundance of seeds in the late summer months, as seeds represent most of their diet. The courtship rituals include aerial maneuvers and singing by males, who begin courtship in late July. The flight displays begin as the male pursues the female, who flies in zigzagging evasive patterns. The male can signal his quality and fitness, both in the short term (current body condition) and long term (genes), through ornamentation (bill color and plumage). If a female accepts the male as a mate, the pair will fly in wide circles, as the male warbles throughout the flight. Once a male has found a mate, he selects a territory, marking the boundaries by warbling as he flies from perch to perch. After circling the perimeter, he performs two flight displays, first repeating a low, flat flight, then flying in an exaggerated version of normal flight, tucking his wings close to his body, plummeting earthwards and catching himself as he spreads his wings to glide upward in a series of loops. Two or three pairs may group their territories together in a loose colony, perhaps to aid in defense against predators. The nest is built in late summer by the female in the branches of a deciduous shrub or tree at a