NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 293 



fine grasses, down and feathers, closely matted together and lined with 

 the long hair of the larger animals. They are often made entirely of 

 grasses. The latter is chiefly the composition of four nests before me 

 taken by Mr. Herron in May and June. The eggs are four or five in 

 number, and are pure white. Four typical eggs before me measure as 

 follows: .62x47, .64x45, .62x44, .62x48; a set of five collected at 

 San Gorgonia Pass, by Mr. Herron, June 22, 1883, offers the following 

 sizes ; .56 x 45, .58 x 45, .61 x 46, .62 x 46, .64 x 44. 



533. Spinus pinus (WILS.) [185.] 



Pine Siskin. 



Hab. Northern North America, breeding from Northern United States northward; South in winter 

 to Mexico. 



The Pine Linnet, Pine Finch, or American Siskin, breeds through- 

 out the British Provinces, Northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 New York, Michigan, thence to Oregon and Washington Territory, in 

 evergreen forests. Its breeding within the United States, however, is 

 by no means of common occurrence. It has been found nesting by Dr. 

 Merriam and others in New York and various New England States. 

 Mr. J. A. Allen obtained a set of four eggs of this species at Cornwall- 

 on-Hudson, Orange county, New York, May 12, 1887. The nest which 

 contained these eggs was placed in the extremity of an upper branch 

 of a Norway pine, about thirty-five feet from the ground.* Another 

 nest was found by Dr. A. K. Fisher, at Sing Sing, New York, on May 

 25. It was situated in the top of a red cedar, about twenty-four feet 

 from the ground and contained four nearly fresh eggs.f In both cases 

 the birds were observed carrying building material to the nests. 



Captain B. F. Goss has a set of four eggs which was taken June 

 25, 1887, in Northern New York. The nest was placed near the top of 

 a birch tree, and was made of dry grasses and pine needles, with a lining 

 of feathers. The ground-color of the eggs is greenish-white, spotted 

 with various shades of brown ; one of the eggs of this set is quite 

 thickly spotted over the whole surface ; on another specimen the spots 

 are mostly confined to the larger end. The other two are faintly 

 marked, and one of them is almost immaculate. Their sizes are : .67x 

 45, .68x48, .67x48, .69x47. A set of three eggs in Mr. Norris' col- 

 lection was taken near Salem, Oregon, May 7, 1887. The female was 

 seen on the nest and the eggs were somewhat incubated. The nest is 

 a much flatter structure than that built by 5. tristes, and was placed on 

 the branch of a fir tree, twenty-five feet from the ground. The eggs 

 are pale greenish-blue, faintly speckled near the larger ends with 



* For full account of this nest and the eggs see The Auk, IV, pp. 284-286. 

 t Bull. Nutt Ornith. Club. VIII, pp. 180-181. 



