FKIXGILLID^ — THE FINCHES — CARPODACUS. I57 



to the iniddlf of the toniior. Length, C.UO ; extent, 0.50 ; wing, 3.25 ; tail, 2.80. li-is, bill, 

 and teet brown. 



Hah, Koeky Mountains to the Pacitic. Xot north of Calilbrnia. 



Tliis lively and musical little bird al)Oimds in nearly all the southern 

 portions of California, and, according to Xewherry, throughout the A'alleys 

 northward up to Oregon. It is everywhere the species most peculiar to the 

 valleys, while the other two frequent the forest-clad mountains. 



I have found this species on the barren rocky liills near the Colorado, and 

 in plains near the coast, where there is no plant higher than the wild mus- 

 tard, on the seeds of which it feeds. It frequents groves also, and open 

 forests on the summit of the Coast Ranges, in small numbers, in company 

 with C. Califomicus, and at times feeds on buds of trees, and seeds of the 

 Cottonwood and other plants. 



It is principally abundant about ranches and gardens, wliere it does much 

 mischief by destroying seeds and young plants, fruit, etc., for wliich depre- 

 dations even its cheerfitl and constant song does not compensate, and the 

 angry gardener wages unrelenting war against the race. 



At iSan I)iego they build as early as the 15th of March, or perhaps even 

 sooner. The situation and materials of their nest are exceedingly variable. 

 I have found them in trees, on logs and rocks, the top rail of a picket- 

 fence, inside a window-shutter, in the holes of walls, under tile or thatch 

 roofs, in haystacks and barns, in the interstices between the sticks of a 

 hawk's nest, and in an old nest of the oriole. Aljout houses tliey always 

 seek the protection of man, as if quite unconscious of havmg made him their 



C. htrynorrhoii-!. WnRler. Male. 



enemy. Heermann mentions also, as locations of nests, the thorny cactus 

 and deserted woodpeckers' holes. The materials are usually coarse grass or 

 weeds, with a lining of hair or fine roots. The eggs, from four to six, are 

 bluish-white, with spots and lines of black, chiefly towards the larger end. 

 They measure 0.78 X 0.50 inch. 



The songs of this species differ very much from those of the others. They 



