PRIBILOF ROSY FINCH 347 



LEUCOSTIGTE TEPHROCOTIS UMBRINA Murie 



Pribilof Rosy Finch 



Habits 



Olaus J. Murie (1944) has given the above name to the rosy finches 

 that breed on the Pribilof Islands and St. Matthew and Otter islands in 

 the Bering Sea, which formerly bore the same name as the birds breed- 

 ing on the Aleutian Islands. He describes this new form as follows: 



Similar to L. t. griseonucha in general coloration, but breast Prout's brown, 

 mixed with indistinct black streaks and suffusions that give it a darker appear- 

 ance, graduating to black on the throat. Back almost the same basic color, 

 though appearing paler due to more restricted black streaking and some paler 

 feather edges. The breast color, because of admixture of black, has a more 

 luminous, richer color effect than the mere naming of these tints would indicate. 

 Flanks, belly, rump, and wing coverts suffused or spotted with old rose, more 

 like geraneum pink in some lights. Back of neck and cheeks gray, as in other 

 forms of tephrocofis. Crown and lores black. Bill black (in breeding season). 

 Feet black. 



Spring. — Preble and McAtee (1923) write: "Although a few may 

 be present [on the Pribilof Islands] in winter the bulk of the summer 

 residents arrive in early spring. Hahn recorded them as numerous 

 on St. Paul April 4, 1911, when they were heard singing for the first 

 time, and as evidently pairing on April 5. Hanna, making obser- 

 vations on St. George in 1914, noted the birds as very common, 

 singing and apparently mating, on March 28 and April 8, and esti- 

 mated the number seen on the latter date as 500. On April 22 he 

 considered them much more abundant than in the winter, and on 

 May 6 estimated a total of 2,000 birds seen." 



Nesting. — The same authors (1923) say: "During the summer of 

 1914 the \mter found the bird common on St. Paul Island. On 

 June 22 a nearly completed nest was found on a narrow shelf beneath 

 an arched rock about 15 feet from the ground. On July 4 this nest 

 contained its complement of 5 eggs. Another nest found the same 

 day in a small cavity on the face of a cliff contained 5 eggs which 

 were obviously on the point of hatching. The first young out of 

 the nest were seen on July 2. * * * The nests are quite bulky and 

 are built of grasses and the dry stalks of various herbaceous plants, 

 with a lining of fine grass and feathers. Hanna found a nest on 

 St. George in 1914 which had a lining of reindeer hair." 



G. Dallas Hanna (1922) writes: "While nests have been found 

 in old buildings, the favorite site for nest building is in some crack 

 or crevice of the precipitous cliffs on the shores of the Pribilofs." 

 The nests are usually less than 25 feet from the base of a cliff, and 

 on rare occasions may be reached by hand, "but the birds are seldom 

 so injudicious as to run such risks. * * * 



