HOUSE FINCH 305 



Weights. — J. L. Partin (1933) made more than 1,000 weighings of 

 800 individuals to determine the possible influence on weight of season, 

 time of day, sex, and age, with the following results: 



1. There is a seasonal variation in the weight of the House Finch; 

 the minimum average for adults occurs during November, and is 

 about 93.7% of the maximum, which occurs in February, while there is a 

 tendency for a low average weight all along from May to November. 



2. Immatures average lightest in June, being about 92.8% of the 

 adult average for that month, and reach 98% of the adult weight 

 in September. 



3. There is a daily variation in the weight of the House Finch, 

 with a decidedly uniform increase for adult birds during the morning, 

 breaking away from a smooth curve in the afternoon, but reaching a 

 maximum during the latter period. The average daily fluctuation 

 for the adults amounts to about 3.5%. 



4. Immatures are more erratic in weight in the forenoon but tend 

 toward a smooth curve in the afternoon, reaching a maximum near 

 the close of the day, with a differential of about 5% between a.m. and 

 p.m. weights. 



5. The females average heavier during the breeding season than the 

 males, while the males are heavier during the prenuptial season, 

 November to March. 



6. There is a strong indication that territorial variations occur, 

 possibly because of variations in food supply, or in hereditary 

 influences, or in both. 



Food. — In relation to the house finch, food is a most important, 

 not to say controversial subject, and it is by aU means unwise to 

 arrive at any generalized conclusion. Each locality or each set of 

 circumstances should be considered on its merits. Bergtold (1913) 

 sums up as follows his observations on the food of bouse finches in 

 Denver and its environs: 



The House Finch will eat almost anything vegetable, though it prefers seeds, 

 and experiments with diflferent seeds show that hemp is selected to the exclusion 

 of all others. Nevertheless it feeds in our streets and alleys, gathering bread 

 crumbs, eating from pieces of bread, apples, oranges, and, in fact, from almost 

 any piece of table refuse. It will consume large quantities of fat, more especially 

 suet. In winter when the ground is unusually deeply covered by snow, these 

 birds wander far and wide over the prairie and vacant city lots, eating weed 

 seeds, particularly those of the so-called Russian Thistle {Salsola tragus). It 

 was, to the writer, a most satisfying discovery to find that the nestlings were, 

 whenever possible, fed as soon as hatched and hereafter, on dandelion seeds. * * * 



If not fed on dandelion seeds, the nestlings are given such food as the old ones 

 usually consume but the writer has never detected any animal food in the crops 

 or stomachs of House Finch nestlings. This Finch has never been seen feeding 

 from the horse manure of the streets. 



