FINCHES 



regions and hindneck ; whole side of head below eyes 

 (whole of ear and cheek regions), neck, back, shoulders, 

 and under parts, chestnut-brown, darker on throat, 

 lighter on back where indistinctly streaked with dusky; 

 feathers of ruinp and fianks. together with upper and 

 under tail-coverts, broadly and abruptly tipped with 

 pink ; the remaining portion of the feathers dusky, 

 especially on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wings 

 and tail, dusky ; the lesser and middle coverts, broadly 

 tipped with pink; the greater coverts, primary coverts, 

 and part of wing quills edged with pink or light 

 scarlet, tail-feathers also with lighter edgings but with 

 less of pink; bill entirely l.ilack. Adult Male in 

 Winter: Similar to suninier male but shoulders and 

 space between with distinct edgings of lighter brown, 

 feathers of breast, etc., with narrow, pale margins; the 

 pink markings, especially on wings and flanks, of a 



softer hue, and the bill yellowish with dusky tip. 

 Adult Fem.\le: Similar to adult male, with the same 

 seasonal dilTerences of color, but averaging paler and 

 duller. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In a rocky crevice at high 

 altitudes; constructed of grasses, weed stems, lined 

 with fine grass and a few feathers. Eggs : 3 to 5, pure 

 white, sharp pointed, with a peculiar fine shell tex- 

 ture. 



Distribution. — Interior districts of North America; 

 breeding on higher parts (11,000-12,000 feet) of White 

 Mountains and Sierra Nevada, southeastern California, 

 and probably also northward ; during migration east to 

 western Nebraska, eastern Colorado, Manitoba, etc.; 

 south to Colorado, Utah, etc. ; west to Cascade and 

 Sierra Nevada ranges; north to plains of the Saskatch- 

 ewan (May). 



Amid the snowbank, and glaciers of western 

 North America are found the Rosy I'^inches. 

 They are optimistic little creatures liviiiL; the 

 gospel of " come storm or sunshine all is well." 

 When it is cold and stormy they will seek out 

 some sheltered spot and quietly wait for better 

 weather. With the coming of the sun. out they 

 scatter again, ju.-t as happy as ever. Where the 

 vegetation is mostly moss and lichens and low- 

 stunted spruce and when the weather is like the 

 typical month of ]\Iarch these birds start their 

 house-keeping. 



Hepburn's Rosy Finch (Lciicoslirtc tcpliro- 

 cotis littoralis) is similar to the < Irav-crdwned 

 but the gray of the crown extends down the sides 

 of the head ; in typical examples the entire 

 head except a black frontal patch and the throat 

 are light ash-gray. It nests above the timber- 

 line in Alaska and in winter comes south to 

 Nevada. Utah, and Colorado, and along the 

 Pacific coast to Kodiak, Sitka, and \'ancouver 

 Island. 



The Black Rosy Finch ( Lciicostictc atrata) 

 breeds in the mountains of Idaho and winters in 

 Colorado and Utah. It is a little smaller than 

 the Grav-crowned with the same marking on the 

 head, but the bodv is brownish black. 



The Brown-c:ipped Rosy Finch ( Lcucostictc 

 aitstralis) has no distinct or clear grayish mark- 

 ings on the head. It breeds above the timber- 

 line on the high mountains of Colorado, descend- 

 ing to the valleys and plains and south to New 

 Mexico in the winter. 



The food of the Rosy Finches is mainly in- 

 sects and seeds which have been blown to the 

 mountain heights by the storms. They hunt for 

 the chilled insects and the seeds along the edge 

 of the melting snows and they may be seen with 

 their feathers fluffed, their faces turned toward 

 the wind, busily hopping about and picking up 

 then- food, all the time cheerily chattering. Occa- 

 sionally one will take shelter behind a stone or 

 lump of snow and warm his toes against his 

 warm little bodv. 



REDPOLL 



Acanthis linaria linaria ( Liniunis) 



A II I', Xumht-r sj8 ."-le Color Plate 78 



Other Names.— Redpoll Linnet; Common Redpoll; 

 Linnet; Lintie; Lesser Redpoll: Little Redpoll; Little 

 Meatlowlark. 



General Description. — Length, 5'< inches. Upper 

 parts, grayish-brown streaked with dusky ; under parts, 

 white and pink or buff: red cap. Rill, small, conical, 

 and acute ; wings, long and pointed ; tail, long and deeply 

 forked. 



Color. — Adult Male in Breeding Dress: Forehead 

 (narrowly), dusky: rr.^oi, hrii/ht /'i'/'/>.v-''i'(' ; general 



color of remaining upper parts, dark grayish-brown or 

 sepia, indistinctly streaked with darker and with 

 grayish-white ; rump, mixed pink and grayish-white, 

 broadly streaked with dusky ; upper tail-coverts, grayish- 

 brown edged with paler ; wings and tail, dusky grayish 

 brown ; the middle and greater wing-coverts, narrowly 

 tipped with .grayish-white ; chin and upper portion of 

 throat, dusky; checks. Imvcr throat, chest, and sides of 

 breast, deep peach-blossom pink: rest of under parts, 

 white, the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts broadly 



