FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



307 



GENUS COCCOTHRAUSTES. 

 Subgenus Hesperiphona. 



514a. Coccothraustes vespertinus montanus (liidgw.). 

 WESTERN EVKMX; GROSBEAK. 



Bill large, swollen, depth at base greater than length of hind toe with 

 claw ; wing long, pointed, more than five times as long as tarsus ; tail 

 short, emarginate ; feet small and 

 weak ; tarsus little if any longer 

 than culmen. Adult male : forehead 

 and superciliary bright yellow ; 

 crown, wings, and tail black, wings 

 with large white patches ; rest of 

 upper parts olive, grading through 

 yellowish green to yellow on rump ; 

 under parts greenish yellow, be- N, 

 coming lemon yellow on under wing 

 and tail coverts. Adult female : 

 prevailing color yellowish or yellow- 

 ish brown ; throat bordered by 

 dusky ; whitish patch on wings. 

 Young : similar to female, but duller 

 and markings less defined. Male : 

 length (skins), 6.70-7.30. \\ing4.1S- 

 4.59, tail 2.50-2.87, bill .78-.8D. 

 width of bill at base .49-.60. Fe- 

 male : length (skins), 0.50-7.30, wing 

 4.10-4.40. tail 2.40-2.78, bill .74- 

 .83, width of bill at base, .51.-57. 



Distribution. Breeds in Canadian and Hudsonian zones in western 

 United States from the Plains to the Pacific, and south through mountains 

 of northwestern Mexico. 



Nest. 15 to 50 feet from the ground in the top of a conifer or thick 

 willow, a comparatively flat, slight structure of small sticks, roots, and 

 sometimes tree lichens lined with finer roots. Eggs : 3 or 4, clear green, 

 blotched with pale brown. 



Food.-- Insects, such as caterpillars ; seeds, and the fruit or buds of mis- 

 tletoe, hackberry, box elder, juniper, maple, ash, alder, and related 

 species. 



In the Canadian zone forests after the nesting season you occa- 

 sionally see a wandering flock of evening grosbeaks. Sometimes 

 there will be only seven or eight in the flock, sometimes twenty-five 

 or more. Their commonest call, as they pass over or light in a fir top, 

 is a short whistle that can always be recognized by its wild, free 

 quality, but they have also a loud ' beady ' note something like 

 that of the waxwing. 



In the mountains of Arizona the grosbeaks breed in can} r ons and 

 near water. Dr. Mearns says, afterwards descending to the oaks of 

 the foothills with their young. 



In winter, grosbeaks are very common in Portland, Oregon, where 

 Mr. Anthony says large flocks feed in the maples, picking up the 

 fallen seeds at the feet of passers-by. 



Fig. 393. 



