PRmaiLLID^ — THE FINCHES.' 477 



specimens. They were in small troop.s on a rugged hillside covered witli a 

 sparse growth of junipers and stunted pines, feeding in company with the 

 Pooqnza hiUiimtu. Judging from their actions, and from the fact that none 

 but males were taken, I presume they were breeding in tlie vicinity. I found 

 some difficulty in securing specimens, partly owing to the broken nature of 

 the locality, and partly to the birds' timidity in the nnaccustomed presence 

 of man. Those that were sliot were all found to have the esophagus as well 

 as the gizzard crammed with seeds. Tliey constantly uttered a plaintive 

 lisping whistle as they gathered food, or as they flew from one tree to another, 

 but their .song did not strike my ear as precisely the same as that of the 

 Goldfinch. These specimens were all in what I take to be perfect plumage, 

 although the Ijack was mixed with olive and black in nearly equal propor- 

 tions, and the black of the pileuni did not reach below the eyes to cit off 

 the yellow under eyelid iVom tlie other yellowish parts of tlie head ; thus 

 closely resembling true psaltria. 



" Upon my arrival at Fort Whipple in July, I found birds of tliis type 

 abundant, and took a good many during the two following months, when 

 they disappeared, and I saw none until about tlie first of May. A small 

 ravine close by the fort, choked with a rank growth of weeds, was a favorite 

 resort ; there the birds could be ibund at nearly all times in season, in large 

 troops, feeding in company with Chipping Sparrows, and the Spizella atriyu- 

 laris. Tliey were very tame during tlie latter part of the summer, would 

 only rise when very closely a]iproached, wlien they flew in a hesitating man- 

 ner a shrirt distance, and then pitched down again among the weeds to 

 resume their Ixisy search for food. In their undulating fliglit they utter 

 their peculiar note, generally with each impulse of the wings, and keep up 

 a continual chirping when feeding ; but I did not hear their true song at this 

 season. Some of the specimens taken were very young birds, and the spe- 

 cies unquestionably breeds here, although I never succeeded in finding a 

 nest. 



" I should not omit to add, that whilst at Santa Fe, New Mexico, I saw 

 caged birds that were thriving well, and apparently reconciled to confine- 

 ment." 



A nest of tliis bird, obtained near Camp Grant, Arizona, by Dr. Palmer, is 

 a flat and shallow structure, having a diameter of three inches, and a lieight 

 of one and a quarter. The cavity is only a slight depression. This nest is 

 made of a felting of various materials, chiefly the cotton-like down of the 

 cottonwood-tree and other soi't vegetable matter, fine stems of grasses, IVag- 

 ments of mosses, and various other similar materials, lined with finer mate- 

 rials of the same. Except in their slightly smaller size, the eggs are not 

 distinguishably different from the preceding. 



