GUADAI.UPE HOUSE FINCH 321 



The measurements of 50 eggs average 21.5 by 15.6 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure ^4-i by 15.7, 23.0 by 

 16.5, and 19.0 by 14-9 millimeters. 



Plumage. — According to C. H. Blake, the adult male has both the 

 brown and the red darker than in the Mexican house finch (C. m. 

 mericanus), with the red extending in lighter shades down onto the 

 streaked area of the breast. The distribution of color resembles the 

 much paler San Clemente house finch. The red of the forehead and 

 crown is less extensive than in the common house fmch. The females 

 and immature males are darker than those of the Mexican house 

 finch, and the ventral streaks are broader, resembling in this respect 

 the San Clemente house finch. 



Food. — Bryant (1887) says: "The dissection of specimens showed 

 the food to consist chiefly of seeds from the cypress tree, mingled with 

 green seeds of 'chick-weed.' Some of those taken near cam.p had 

 their crops well filled with bits of tallow picked from the body of a 

 goat which had been di-essed and hung under a tree." 



Behavior. — Bryant (1887) noticed nothing in either their habits or 

 song that differed from those of the mainland forms, and adds: "Soon 

 after setthng on the top of the island in December, 1885, the 'Gordons' 

 began to collect about the camp, making the mornings joyous with 

 their song. 



"By om* refraining from discharging fire-arms in the immediate 

 vicinity of the camp, they soon became quite tame, hopping about 

 camp during the day, and roosting at night in the thickest cypress, 

 or, dm-ing a storm, under the eaves of the palm-thatched huts." 



Enemies. — Bryant (1887) says: "They are easily entrapped under a 

 box, and it was in this way that the Mexican women at the settle- 

 ment succeeded in catching, during my stay, as many as two or three 

 dozen, which they ate." 



But their chief enemy is the introduced cat, and it is largely due 

 to their nesting in the spiny cholias, or other inaccessible places, that 

 they have survived the predation of this animal. However, A. W. 

 Anthony (1925) makes the following statement: "Formerly one of the 

 most abundant land birds on the island but now reduced to about 

 10% of its abundance 25 years ago, the destruction being due to the 

 thousand of cats that infest all parts of the island. The species nests 

 largely in the cactus found over most parts of the island, which fact 

 saves the nestlings until able to fiutter to the ground, where they 

 fall an easy prey." 



Distribution 



Range. — The Guadalupe house finch is resident on Guadalupe 

 Island off central western Baja California. 



