76 THE GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. 



chirps of alarm and call to each other with a long, sweet note, something 

 similar to that of the Goldfinch (Spiniis tristis). They keep up' a constant 

 cheeping repetition of this note when feeding in parties, and if one of their 

 number is shot the others approach closer and closer to the hunter, and gaze 

 with mingled curiosity and sympathy upon their fluttering companion." 



No. 27. 



GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. 



A. O. U. No. 524. Leucosticte tephrocotis Swains. 

 Synonyms. — Rosy Finch. Swaixson's Rosy Finch. 



Description. — .Idiilts: Similar to L. t. littoralis but ashy gray of head re- 

 stricted to sides of crown and occiput — in worn plumages black of crown pro- 

 duced backward to meet brown of hind neck. Seasonal changes as in succeeding. 

 Size of next. 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size ; warm brown plumage ; ashy gray not 

 encroaching upon sides of head as distinguished from L. t. littoralis. 



Nesting. — Not known to breed in Washington. "Nest made of strips of 

 bark and grass, built in a fissure of a rock at the side of a bunch of grass" ( Reed). 

 Eggs: 4 or 5. white. Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — Imperfectly made out — probably discontinuous. Reported 

 breeding from such widely separated localities as the Rocky Mountains of 

 British America and the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains of southern Cali- 

 fornia ; wiiUers on the eastern slopes of the Rockies and irregularly eastward to 

 western Nebraska, Manitoba, etc.. westward to Cascade and Sierra Nevada 

 ranges (Camp Harvey, Ore. Pullman. Wash. Chilliwhack. B. C). 



Range in Washington. — I'robaljly of regular occurrence during migrations 

 anil in winter east of the Cascade Mountains only. 



Authorities. — Not previously reported; W. T. Shaw in epistola, Dec. 31, 

 1908. 



Specimens. — Pullman. 



MOUNTAIN climbing as an art is still in its infancy in the Northwest 

 and altho the Mountaineers and the Mazanias are attacking the situatiiin 

 vigorously we ha\'e yet much to learn of the wild life upon our Washington 

 sierras. But what problem cnuld be more fascinating to a lover of liirds and 

 mountains than that of working out accurately the distribution of the Rosy 

 Finches in America? They are the mountaineers par excellence, they are the 

 Jebusites of the untaken citadels, and our ignorance of their wa}-s will ere 

 long become a reproach tO' our wumted western enterprise. As it stands, 



