SIERRA NEVADA ROSY FESTCH 363 



Its breeding range seems to be confined to the Sierra Nevada, 

 from Eldorado Comity on the north to Tulare County on the south, 

 in California. Dawson (1923) gives its range as follows: "At least 

 the higher portions of the central and southern Sierras from Nevada 

 County south to Olancha Peak; also sparingly about the higher peaks 

 of the White Mountains; retires in winter to lower levels, chiefly 

 easterly." 



All the rosy finches seem to prefer to make their summer homes 

 and rear their young in what we humans would consider most un- 

 attractive, even forbidding, surroundings, and this southern member 

 of the tribe is no exception to the rule. In the bleak and lofty heights 

 of the Sierras, from 10,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level, among 

 towering clifTs and rocky slopes, where snowfields remain all summer, 

 these hardy birds find congenial summer homes. 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) caU this "the most typically alpine of 

 all Californian birds. The mountaineer does not meet with it until 

 he reaches the main Sierran crest or at least the loftiest of the out- 

 standing spurs." 

 Nesting. — Dawson (1923) writes: 



* * * The cliff-nesters find their favorite sites available in June, and they, 

 accordingly, fall to early in the month. The moraine or rock-slide nesters expect 

 their home sites to be buried in snow vintil late in June; and, subject to the varia- 

 tion of the seasons, nest complements may be expected in such situations at any 

 time from the 1st to the 20th of July. The noisy scenes of courtship, therefore, 

 may extend from the middle of May to the middle of July ; but the actual nesting 

 is conducted so quietly, so decorously, that the inexperienced student is likely to 

 be utterly deceived. 



* * ♦ 



The nests of the Leucos are always fully sheltered. They are set back in 

 niches or placed under boulders, sometimes in chambers of generous proportions, 

 and always beyond the reach of rain or snow. * * * 



Some of the nests are drab-looking affairs, especially where weathered grasses 

 are the only materials available. Some, however, are wonderfully compacted 

 of mosses, and are lined with feathers or other soft substances. * * * The nests 

 are, naturally, of the sturdiest construction, with walls from one to three inches 

 in thickness, with hollows deeply cupped. * * * 



A long and interesting account, fully illustrated, telling of the 

 discovery of the first nest of this bird, was published by Milton S. Ray 

 (1910), to which the reader is referred. 



James B. Dixon (1936) gives the following measurements of what 

 he considered to be a typical nest: "Outside diameter, 4^ inches; 

 inside diameter, 2% inches; outside depth, 2^^ inches; inside depth, 

 lYi inches." 



Eggs. — This rosy finch lays from three to five eggs, more rarely the 

 latter. They are like the eggs of the other subspecies, pure white 



