FRINGTLLTD.K — TIIK FINCHES. 475 



Witli i|uite a small series ol' speciiiieus, a perfect transition can be shown 

 from the typical 6'. imdtria, as above described, to the C. columbianus, the 

 ojiposite extreme (see table, page 471). The former is the most northern, 

 the latter the most southern form ; arizonw and mcrimnu, intermediate 

 in habitat, are also as strikingly so in plumage. The difference is in llir 

 quantity of the black, this color predominating over the olive of the back 

 and the white of wings and tail, in proportion as we go southward. There 

 cannot, upon the whole, be any doubt that they are all specifically the same. 

 The females can scarcely be distinguished. 



IIauits. The Arkansas Finch was first discovered in Long's expedition to 

 the liocky M(mntains, and described by Say in 1823. It has since been met 

 with in Xew Mexico and in various parts of California. Dr. Cooper did not 

 find tins species in the Colorado Valley, altliough Dr. Kennerly met with 

 it along Williams Fork, in New Mexico. Dr. Woodhouse did not see it in 

 his route to the Zuni IJiver, either in New Mexico or the Indian Territory. 



Dr. Kennerly met with these birds in the month of February. lie found 

 them very abundant all along the banks of the Bill Williams Fork. They 

 were feeding on the young buds of the cottonwood trees. A that season 

 they were in small flocks, and tlie only note he heard from them was a short 

 chirp, as they hojiped from twig to twig, or flew from one tree to another. 



Dr. Ileermann states that la; RhukI these Finches abundant in the norlliern 

 mining regions of California, fre(juenting and feeding in the same localities 

 with the C. Uvwrenni, and often associated with the Pine Finch. He adds 

 that, wiiile thus associated, lie shot a large number of both species. They 

 seemed to be employed, at the time, in jiicking out the fine gravel mixed in 

 the mud used as mortar for a chimney. Hying away at each discharge of the 

 gun, l)ut returning, in a few minutes, to the same place. 



Mr. Audubon regarded this species as accidental in Louisiana, having 

 procured individuals a few miles from Bayou Sara. 



The Arkansas Goldfinch was found by IMr. Eidgway among the Wahsatcli 

 Mountains, his attention being at once drawn to it by its curious notes. He 

 first met with it in " City-Creek Canon," near Salt Lake City, where indi- 

 viduals of it were fre(piently found mixed in with flocks of C. piu'is. The 

 note of this liird is remarkable for its power and very sad tone. Tlie ordi- 

 nary note is a plaintive, mellow, whistling call, impossible to describe, and 

 so infiected as to produce a very mournful effect. When the bird takes to 

 flight, it is changed to a simple cheer, similar to the anxious notes of the male 

 Agdaius phcenicens, uttered wlien its nest is disturbed. This sj)ecies was 

 quite rare, not being so conmion as either C. pimis or C. tristis. Its nest 

 was found in Parley's Park, Wahsatch IMountains, June 22, in the top of a 

 willow-bush near a stream. 



At San Diego, and along the whole coast border of California, Dr. Cooper 

 thinks that this Finch is rather rare. In the interior valleys they seem to 

 be (|uite common. They also breed in small numbers in the Coast Itange, 



