certain distances; then taking their places just at sunset in early November or the 

 last of October, on a low, open valley or 'swale,' extending north and south, they 

 stretch the net across the middle of this highway, with a man and sometimes two 

 at each cross-piece, while the women and children conceal themselves behind the 

 neighboring clumps of bushes. As twilight advances the net is raised and held 

 upright. Ere long the flocks of ptarmigan are seen approaching, skimming along 

 close to the snow-covered earth in the dim twilight, and a moment later, as the 

 first birds come in contact with the obstacle, the men press the net down upon 

 the snow sometimes securing fifty to sixty birds." 



All are white as snow in winter. They are smaller than the prairie chicken 

 and densely feathered to the end of their toes. The ptarmigan is an exceedingly 

 hardy bird, taking refuge in an arctic snow drift as readily as a seal in water. 

 They nest on the ground. 



House Finch ( Car podacus mexicanus frontalis) 



Length, about 6 inches. Grayish brown above, many feathers tinged with 

 red. Below dull white, crown, rump and throat crimson. 



Range: Resident in Oregon, Idaho and southeastern Wyoming south to 

 Lower California and Mexico. 



The pretty little house finch of the far west is among the most domestic of 

 American birds, and exhibits a predilection for the neighborhood of houses almost 

 as strong as that of the English sparrow. It carols its sprightly lay from the tops 

 of buildings in villages and even cities, and from the shrubbery of lawn and 

 park. So confiding has the bird become that it places its nest in any crack or 

 cranny of house or outbuilding that is large enough for its housekeeping opera- 

 tions. When such convenient and safe retreats are not to be had it builds a bulky 

 nest in a tree or bush. 



It is fond of fruit, including pears, cherries, and small fruit, which its strong 

 conical bill enables it to break open with ease. Locally, therefore, it is a good 

 deal of a pest and does much damage to fruit crops, especially where it is numer- 

 ous. Much, however, can be said in mitigation of its oflFenses. The seeds of 

 plants, a large proportion of those of noxious weeds, constitute seven-eighths of 

 its food for the year. Plant lice which are notoriously harmful to many trees and 

 plants, also are a favorite diet. So, to, are caterpillars and beetles ; therefore, the 

 balance is decidedly in the bird's favor. 



This attractive songster was carried to the Hawaiian Islands years ago and 

 now is numerous in Honolulu and also in the forest on the island of Hawaii 

 where amid brighter and more tropical neighbors it seems curiously out of place, 

 though it sings as often and as joyously as it ever did in its old haunts across the 

 Pacific. 



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