FAMILY FringillidcB 



rare and irregular in the southern part of its 

 range. Two closely allied species are the 

 gray-crowned rosy finch, found in the interior 

 of British Columbia, wintering in the Rocky 

 Mountains, and the black rosy finch of the 

 high mountains of Idaho, Colorado and 

 Utah. 



The rosy finches are birds of the high 

 mountains, living far above the timber line 

 among the snow-clad peaks. They seem 

 fearless in the face of the storms that sweep 

 over the mountain tops, huddling together on 

 the sheltered sides of snowbank or boulder 

 until the sun comes out again. 



Their food consists of small insects and 

 beetles that are blown up the mountains by 

 the winter storms and scattered in a be- 

 numbed condition over the surface of the 

 snow. Only the severest w^eather w^ill drive 

 the rosy finches down into the timber below, 

 where they may seek shelter for the night in 

 dense clumps of spruce and pine. 



The rosy finches are singularly tame in the 

 presence of those who visit their haunts, 

 feeding about on the snow close to one's camp 

 or flitting from crag to crag in small flocks 

 uttering a low churring note as they fly. 



The nest of the rosy finch is hidden in the 

 cleft of a rock or underneath the edge of an 



