GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH 359 



paler and less rosy. It has been contended that the sexes cannot 

 be distinguished in hfe. J. C. Merrill (1880) has made a study of 

 the winter plumages of the two forms of the species at Fort Shaw, 

 Mont., pointing out certain details by which the sexes can be dis- 

 tinguished. The reader is referred to his paper. 



In its feeding and other habits, this rosy finch does not differ 

 materially from the other races of the species. Laurence B. Potter, 

 of Eastend, Saskatchewan, has sent me the following notes sub- 

 mitted by Charles F. Holmes, of Dollard, Saskatchewan: "On De- 

 cember 15, 1940, I noticed a dozen rosy finches, with one Hepburn's 

 among them, feeding upon weed seeds on the south side of my grain- 

 eries; they were not at all alarmed at my presence, and remained 

 about the yard for several days, going in and out of the various 

 buildings and even roosting at night among the rafters. About 

 December 20, the flock of 12 was increased to perhaps 200; they 

 settled in the tall poplars, not imhke the habit of snow bimtings 

 and looldng just as odd. They swarmed over the roof of the house, 

 their feet sounding like hail as they landed, and in a few minutes 

 were literally covering my feeding board, cracking and husking the 

 seed and squabbling for place. At one time I counted 50 feeding 

 on the board including two Hepburn's whilst the overflow of some 

 hundred fed upon the gi'ound. As far as I could judge, the Hepburn's 

 seemed to be in ratio of 1 to 70, though sometimes 1 to 50. 



"In front of the house was a car; they perched upon the radiator, 

 flew in at the windows and sat upon the steering wheel; and when 

 I went out to place more feed upon the board, they sat upon my head 

 and walked over my shoes. 



"As long as so many fed upon the board at one time, they were 

 fairly peaceable, but when two or three remained, one in particular 

 became very hostile, refusing place to aU and sundry and fairly romp- 

 ing up and down from one end of the board to the other in his efforts 

 to police it. He would hump his back, fluff out his feathers and, with 

 his topnot erect, dash at any intruder." 



P. M. SiUoway (1903) writes of the behavior of these finches in 

 Fergus County, Mont.: 



A regular winter resident at Lewiston, where it is known as "brown snowbird." 

 It generally appears about the first of November, though in pleasanter weather 

 it may not be observed before the 8th or 10th. * * * 



The leucostictes are our English sparrows in social manners. They feed at 

 the door-steps, or in the yards. On a warm winter morning I have seen from forty 

 to fifty of these birds sitting on a wood-pile in the door-yard, sunning themselves 

 and gleaning from refuse. In the late afternoons the individuals of a flock scatter 

 out to accustomed nooks for the night. A particular male, and sometimes a 

 female, have regular sleeping nooks in the porch of the writer's home, and long 

 before nightfall the birds seek their quarters. I have seen one enter a tubular 



