260 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 paht i 



blue with few spots and a streak or two of extremely dark purple- 

 brown, generally tending to form zone at big end. Varieties with 

 reddish marking on white ground occur. Average of 100 British eggs, 

 19.54 X 14.49. Max.: 22.1 X 13.6 and 20.2 X 15.6. Min.: 17.2 X 13 

 mm." The European pyrrhula on the other hand lays "usually 5 or 

 6, occasionally only 4, clear greenish-blue in ground-color when 

 fresh, with few spots and streaks of very dark purplish-brown. Average 

 of 65 eggs (24 by Rey etc.), 20.42 X 14.69. Max.: 23.2 X 14.8 and 

 21 X 16. Mm.: 18 X 14.4 and 19.2 X 14 mm." 



Incubation. — In the Japanese bullfinch according to Kiyosu (1943) 

 "the eggs are incubated only by the female, who is fed on the nest 

 by the male. The eggs require 12-14 days brooding to hatch * * *." 

 This agrees in general with accounts of other races, where the in- 

 cubation period is given loosely as a fortnight or 2 weeks. 



Young. — All accounts state that the nesting bullfinches of all races 

 are fed by regurgitation by both parents and leave the nest 12 to 16 

 days after hatching. 



Plumages. — Kiyosu (1943) states of griseiventris, "Immediately 

 after hatching the chicks are bare, and very long primary dark grey 

 down is seen above the eyes, hind head, upper arm, back, forearm, 

 thigh, belly, and legs. The inner mouth is pink, the edges of the bill 

 light yellow." 



Food. — Again, nothing is known directly of the food habits of Cas- 

 sin's bullfinch, but there is no reason they should vary materially 

 from those of P. p. pyrrhula, which are given by Jourdain {in Witherby, 

 1938) as "mainly seeds of trees (alder, birch, and conifers), also kernels 

 of berries, plant seeds and buds, but also some insect food, including 

 larvae of larch moths, etc. (C. Loos)." 



Behavior. — The only accoimt of the behavior of Cassin's bull- 

 finch ever written is Bergman's short description (1935) of his experi- 

 ences with it in Kamchatka: 



"The bullfinch is distributed sparsely over the birch, fir, and larch 

 forests in Kamchatka. Nowhere is it abundant. In summer it lives 

 very quietly and retiringly. Its habits do not seem to differ from those 

 of the Swedish buUfinch, and its whistle was, so far as I could deter- 

 mine, identical to the Swedish. * * * jj^ autumn and winter the 

 bullfinch becomes more conspicuous, and I found it often on my ski 

 and sled trips. It never occurs in large flocks, but habitually separate 

 or a few together." 



Its habits probably do not vary essentially from those of the Japanese 

 bullfinch, which Kiyosu (1943) states "stays in pairs in summer and 

 gathers in small flocks in fall and winter. They stay chiefly in trees, 

 and come down to the ground seldom except for water to drink or to 



