Part 37

This is a lighter colored bird than the above. It is found on the eastern slope of the Rockies and has been found breeding in the Sierra Nevadas, in crevices of the rocks, after the same manner as the above. The eggs cannot be distinguished from the above.

HEPBURN ROSY FINCH. 524a. Leucosticte tephrocotis littoralis. 6½ inches.

These have more gray on the back of the head; otherwise the same as preceding in habits and nesting.

BLACK ROSY FINCH. 525. Leucosticte atrata. 6½ inches.

This species is the same in markings as the Gray-crowned, excepting that the brown is replaced with almost black on the back and breast. The females of this family are much the same as the males, only not as bright in markings, and the young are the same as the females. Found in the northern Rocky Mountains, breeding in the mountains south to Colorado. They are all restless birds, seldom making a long stop in one place, but flitting from one locality to another. After the breeding season, they congregate in large flocks and keep together about the snow line, getting their supply of seed and insect food. Their nesting habits and their eggs are the same as the Gray-crowned.

BROWN-CAPPED ROSY FINCH. 526. Leucosticte australis. 6½ inches.

These are to be found more southerly in the Rocky Mountains than any of the others, breeding in Colorado, and wintering in New Mexico. Their nesting habits and eggs are the same. Most of this family keep above the timber line during the summer, and only come down into the valleys as the heavy snow comes.

HOARY REDPOLL. 527a. Acanthis hornemanni exilipes. 5 inches.

These pretty little birds, with their caps of bright crimson and rosy breasts, are birds of the coldest regions, breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering to the northern parts of the United States.

Nest.—They build very large nests, mostly of small sticks and grass, and lined with fine grass and feathers, which are placed usually within a foot or two of the ground in scrub bushes. Their three to five eggs are a light bluish green, with specks of brown, mostly about the larger end (.65 × .50).

REDPOLL. 528. Acanthis linaria. 5 inches.

Its range is the northern part of North America, breeding in Alaska, and wintering as far south as southern Oregon, or into California on the western coast, in the mountain regions above the timber line. In Colorado, they have been seen at 10,000 feet, and with the temperature far below zero. Their nesting habits are the same as the above, and eggs are the same.

PALE GOLDFINCH. 529a. Astragalinus tristis pallidus. 5 inches.

A paler form, found in the Rockies, south to Colorado (not illustrated).

WILLOW GOLDFINCH. 529b. Astragalinus t. salicamara. 5 inches.

A western form of the eastern bird, rarely reaching the five inches in length, and of a paler color, both the black and the yellow. It is common on the Pacific coast, from Washington to southern California, breeding in willows and low bushes. Nest is made of plant down, very compactly built, usually in a crotch. Four to five eggs, plain bluish white (.60 × .45).

ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH. 530. Astragalinus psaltria. 5 inches.

Found from Colorado to Mexico in the Rockies (not illustrated).

GREEN-BACKED GOLDFINCH. 530a. Astragalinus p. hesperophilus. 5 inches.

In southwestern United States from Central California to Mexico.

LAWRENCE GOLDFINCH. 531. Astragalinus lawrencei. 4½ inches.

This bird differs from the others of this family in being mostly gray in place of the yellow, having the head and throat black. They are found quite commonly on the Pacific coast of California, and south to Mexico. Their nests are nicely made, cup-like structures of plant down, in which they deposit four white eggs.

PINE SISKIN. 533. Spinus pinus. 5 inches.

These are a more northern bird, breeding mostly to the Canadian zone, and in the Rockies and higher mountains to the west. They feed largely upon weed seeds and seeds from the different coniferous trees, the latter of which they most often frequent, building their nests in these trees of twigs and rootlets loosely put together and placed on the crotch of a horizontal limb; usually four eggs, of a greenish white color, spotted finely with reddish brown (.65 × .45). They have a habit, while feeding, of clinging to the under side of a branch or cone, similar to the Chickadee, and, if disturbed when on some favorite tree, will make a short flight and circle back to the same tree.

SNOW BUNTING OR SNOWFLAKE. 534. Plectrophenax nivalis. 7 inches.

To be found in the whole of the northern hemisphere, breeding within the Arctic Circle and wintering south to the central portions of the United States. They are one of the birds that change their dress completely from winter to summer, in color. In winter they are a clear black and white, while in summer the black is changed for a coat of chestnut or brownish. They are to be found in the winters, on the hillsides and in fields where the weeds are showing through, feeding upon the small seeds, and at this time they are as restless and uncertain as the snowflake itself, from which it is called. They nest on the ground, making it of dried grasses and lining with finer grass and feathers; the four or five eggs are a dull white, spotted and splashed with shades of brown, mostly on the larger end (.90 × .65).

McKAY SNOW BUNTING. 535. Plectrophenax hyperboreus. 7 inches.

This species is still more white than the preceding, having only a few specks of black on the tips of the primaries, and the central tail feather. They build, in crevices of the rocks on the ground, a nest of grass, lined with moss and feathers.