FRIN«ILL1D.E — TUK I'lNClIES. 509 



Dimensions : Total length, 7.50 ; wiiij,', i.SO ; tail, 3.50. E.xposed portion of first pri- 

 mary, 3.50. Bill, from forehead, .09 ; from nostril, .42. Legs : tarsus, .95 ; middle toe 

 and claw, .92; claw alone, .35 ; hind too and claw, .09; claw alone, .38. 



Hab. Aleutian Islands (St. George's and Unalaschka). 



This is considerably the largest of the Anierican species of Lcucostidc, and 

 lias a longer l)ill. It also has the chocolate and rose color darker, and the 

 rose extending farther forward on the breast than in other species. It could 

 only be confoiuided with 0. littorcdis as to color, both having the head above, 

 and on the sides, ashy, covering the whole ear-coverts ; but the dusky patch 

 on the crown is more extended, the ash of chin more restricted, and the 

 throat darker. The rose extends farther along the breast, and the tints are 

 different. The size is much larger. 



A specimen, apparently young, perhaps a female, differs in duller tints, 

 and a tinge of ochreous-yellow on the middle of the abdomen and crissum. 

 The lining of the wings is witliout any rose-color. 



Bonaparte and Schlegel describe the young of this species as without rose- 

 color. 



Specimens of this bird were olitained at St. George's Island, with the eggs 

 (which are white), by Mr. W. H. Dall. Dr. Minor found it at Unalaschka. 



Habits. The Gray-eared Finch is the largest species of this remarkable 

 genus known to inhabit North America. Thus far, except in one instance, it 

 has been met with only in the Aleutian Islands and Unalaschka. In the latter 

 place they were met with by Dr. T. T. Minor, and in tlie former by Mr. Dall. 



Mr.'E. Brown (Ibis, 1868, p. 432) states that a single specimen of this 

 very rare bird was taken at Fort liupert, Vancouver Island, in June, 1862 

 by Mr. P. M. Compton, the officer in charge of that station. This, however, 

 may have belonged to the var. lilioralis. 



I\Ir. Dall states that they abound on the rribylnw and the other Aleutian 

 Islands. A number of specimens were obtained on the St. George's in Au- 

 gust, though at that time they were moulting. At that season this bird 

 had no song except a clear chirp, soimding like w4et-a wht-a-wic-tccd. It 

 was on the wing a great part of the time, rarely alighting on the ground, but 

 darting rapidly in a series of descending and ascending curves. At one time 

 it would swing on the broad top of an ural:>elliferous plant, and at another 

 aliglit on some ledge of the perpendicular bluff, jumping from point to point, 

 as if delighting to test its own agility. Mr. Dall adds that its nest is a 

 simple liollow on one of the ledges, provided with a few straws or a bit of 

 moss. They deposit their eggs in May, and these are four iu number. In 

 August their young were fully fledged. 



They feed on the seeds of grasses and other small plants, but in the crop 

 of one ]\Ir. Dall found two or three small beetles. They were also received 

 from Kodiak, through Mr. Bischoff. 



Their eggs are of a grayish-white, with a slight tinge of yellowish, and 

 measure .95 by .70 of an inch. 



