nnch WESTERN BIRDS 



and breast being a bright rose-red with a paler wash 

 of the same color extending over the back, the outer 

 webs of the wing feathers being finely edged with the 

 rose, and the belly being white. The tail is notched, 

 and the nostrils are concealed by a small tuft of bristly 

 feathers. This bright plumage of the male is acquired 

 only after the nesting season of the second year. Be- 

 fore this time the bird resembles the female and is so 

 similar as to confuse the ordinary mortal. 



The upper parts are a dark grayish brown, finely 

 streaked with black, wings and tail darker; under parts 

 are white, much streaked with brown, or gray. A white 

 line over the eye is a distinctive marking. The birds are 

 quite Sparrow-like in plumage, but the hea\'y rounded 

 bill, the tufts over nostrils, and the forked tail will help 

 differentiate them. They are about six inches long and 

 plump of body. 



These Finches are found only as far west as the Great 

 Plains, breeding in Minnesota, North Dakota, northern 

 Illinois, Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, and Long 

 Island, wintering from considerably north of its south- 

 ern breeding boundary to the Gulf States from Texas 

 to Florida. 



They are not especially shy birds, often coming into 

 the gardens to nest as well as choosing less frequented 

 woodlands, or mountain forests for their homes. 



It is one of our sweetest singers, its loud, care-free 

 warble bubbling forth frequently and making the hearer 

 feel that, after all, it is good to be alive; that there 

 surely is something besides care and trouble in this 

 world of ours. 



But this jovial enthusiast has one fault, and that is 

 his fondness for fruit buds, which he sometimes sam- 

 ples too frequently to suit the orchardist. I mistrust, 

 however, that oftentimes the trees are only given a 

 good pruning and, too, that if the buds were examined 



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