506 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



vada. Tlie Hock was Hitting i-estlessly over the snow in the manner of the 

 Plectrophancs. 



Nothing has been ascertained, so far as we are now informed, as to its nest, 

 esss, or general distribution during the breeding-season. 



]Mr. J. K. Lord states that he met with a flock of these riire and beautiful 

 birds on the summit of the Cascade Mountains. It was late in Octolier, and 

 he observed a flock of nine or ten birds pecking along the ground, and feed- 

 ing somewhat in tlie manner of Larks. Puzzled to know wliat birds they 

 could be at such an altitude so late in the year, he fired among them and 

 secured three, a female and two males in fine plumage. (Perhaps var. littor- 

 alis.) 



In July of the following summer, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains, 

 near the Kootanie Pass, he again saw these birds feeding on the ground. He 

 shot several, but they were all young birds of the year. It is therefore ren- 

 dered probable that these Finches l^reed on the Cascade and Rocky Moun- 

 tains, in both at about the same -altitude, or seven thousand feet, coming 

 into tlie lowlands during the winter, as it is not likely that they could endure 

 the cold of tlie summits, or find there a sufiicieiicy of food, the winter being 

 very severe, and the snow three feet or more in depth. 



Mr. Charles N. Holden, a promising young ornithologist of Chicago, who 

 observed these birds among the Black Hills, near Sherman, at an altitude 

 of eight thousand feet above the sea, has furnished me with interesting 

 observations in regard to them. He informs me tliat he did not meet with 

 these birds there in summer. They came in small flocks in the coldest part 

 of winter. Their food consisted of small seeds and insects. In some in- 

 stances lie found the crops so distended with seeds as to distort tlieir shape. 

 They become very fat, and are e.xcellent eating. In one specimen, a young 

 male, the plumage was almost black, as described at the beginning of this 

 article. These birds were quite numerous, and nearly forty specimens were 

 secured. He was not able to learn aiiA'tliing in reference to their lireeding- 

 places. Except by dissection, he found it difficult to distinguish between a 

 young male of the first year and a female. 



If the .specimen referred to in the foot-note at the beginning of this arti- 

 cle as collected by Mr. i\^llen on Mount Lincoln be reaUy this species, an im- 

 ])ortant advance in its history will liave been reached, showing tliat tlieir 

 summers are spent in the high mountain summits, and that the rest of the 

 year is passed lower down on tlie plains. 



