House-Finch 331 



between June 15th and Julj- 30th near Ward (9,200 

 feet), and at Duck Lake in Boulder co. In nearly every 

 case the nest was placed on the horizontal branch of a 

 Douglas spruce, about twenty-five feet above the ground, 

 and was composed of twigs and strong grasses woven 

 together and lined with cowhair. The eggs, four or 

 five in number, are pale greenish to white, sparsely 

 sprinkled and scratched with, blackish surface-markings 

 and lilac shell-marks. They measure "85 x "65. 



House-Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 519— Colorado Records— Say 23, vol ii., p. 40 ; 

 Aiken 72, p. 199 ; Trippe 74, p. 109 ; Henshaw 75, p. 241 ; Nash 83, 

 p. 225 ; H. G. Smith 84, p. 120 ; Drew 85, p. 16 ; Beckham 85, p. 16 ; 

 87, p. 124 ; Morrison 89, p. 149 ; H. G. Smith 93, p. 244 ; Cooke 97, 

 p. 96 ; Keyser 02, p. 181 ; Henderson 03, p. 236 ; 05, p. 421 ; 09, 

 p. 235 ; Warren 06, p. 22 ; Bergtold 07, p. 61 ; Gilman 07, p. 156 ; 

 Markman 07, p. 157 ; Rockwell 08, p. 170. 



Description.^ — Male — Front half of the top of the head, rump, throat 

 and upper-breast a rich dark carmine, paling on the occiput and back 

 to a faint wash ; the back in addition strongly streaked with dusky ; 

 wings and tail, including the upper tail-coverts, dusky edged with 

 whitish ; the lower-breast and rest of the under-parts dull white, 

 strongly streaked with dusky ; tail slightly forked ; iris brown, bill 

 and legs horny-brown. Length 5-5 ; wing 3-10 ; tail 2-40 ; culmen 

 •41 ; tarsus -75. 



The female resembles a male without any red, the breast being 

 rather heavily streaked with brown. The immature male, and occa- 

 sionally even the adult breeding male (Henderson 05), resembls the 

 female and show no red. 



Distribution. — The western United States and northern Mexico, 

 chiefly in the Rocky Moiintain region from Oregon and southern 

 Wyoming to northern Mexico and northern Lower California. 



In Colorado the House-Finch is found most abundantly in the 

 foothills, and at lower elevations up to 9,000 feet in the naountains ; it 

 is a resident throughout the year chiefly in the towns and villages. 

 It is rarely met with on the plains or at great elevations. It is abundant 

 at Boulder (Henderson), Denver (Bergtold), Colorado Springs (Aiken), 

 Pueblo (Beckliam) and Salida (Frey), and was noted by Keyser at 

 Red Cliff (8,600 feet) and Glenwood, and by Rockvv'ell at Grand Junction 

 on the western side of the range. Warren has recorded it from Baca 

 CO., and Gilman from La Plata co. and Montezuma co. 



