84 Zoology of Colorado 



FRINGILLIDAE 



The very large family of finches is common to both Hemi- 

 spheres, members of this group being among the best known 

 birds of Europe. They are dominant, advanced passerines, and 

 we have in Colorado no less than 34 genera. Many of the 

 species are hard to discriminate even with the bird in hand, 

 but some are recognizable at sight. Sclater gives two keys to 

 the genera to facilitate recognition. 



The Warren Evening-Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina war- 

 reni of Grinnell) is a bird which appears in flocks at certain times, 

 entering town and attracting a great deal of attention. It is 

 named after Mr. E. R. Warren of Colorado Springs, who has done 

 so much work on Colorado birds and mammals. It is known by 

 its very large bill; the male with bicolored wings, black and white, 

 and the tail black. The Pine-Grosbeak {Pinicola enuchator mon- 

 tana), with rosy tints in the male, greenish in the female, is 

 rather common high in the mountains, in the Hudsonian Zone. 

 The House-Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis), the type of 

 which was obtained by Say near the present city of Pueblo, is 

 common in towns, and has not been exterminated by the English 

 Sparrow. The males, in good plumage, are splendidly red, often 

 causing fresh surprise and pleasure. Cassin's Purple Finch (C. 

 cassini of Baird) is not so common. It is a distinctly larger 

 bird, and has the tail emarginate or notched, instead of squared 

 off. The American Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra minor of Brehm), 

 easily known by the crossed tips of the bill, is red in the male, 

 olive yellow in the female. In the young the bill is ordinary; 

 Sclater says the fully crossed mandibles are attained at about six 

 months. These birds go in flocks, and occasionally come into 

 towns, as at Boulder. The Rosy Finches* (Leucosticte) are birds 

 of the far north and high mountains. Sometimes, after heavy 

 storms, they are driven to lower altitudes. On such an occasion, 

 April 20, 1874, Mr. Aiken found great quantities of Rosy Finches 

 in a vacant lot in Canon City. He actually had not only all the 

 three forms then known from the region (one of them, L. australis, 

 described only the year before), but also examples of an entirely 



*This vernacular name, used in the A. O. U. list, is better than Rose Finch, adopted by 

 Sclater, or Leucosticte, used in the vernacular sense by Mrs. Bailey. 



