BIRD RECORDS IN THE MISSOURI VALLEY 79 



31. Purple Finch. Carpodacu^ purpureus. On November 

 25, 1917, Mr. Allen and the writer saw a male of this species in 

 one of the branches of the Cardinal Glen. It was in a Hop 

 Hornbeam tree {OstP^ja virgimana) greedily feeding- upon the 

 seeds. Although the bird was ten or fifteen feet up in the tree, 

 we were about on a level with it because of the sloping hillside. 

 "We watched the bird for fifteen minutes or more. After read- 

 ing my report on the birds of last winter in this locality. Dr. 

 G. C. Rich called my attention to the fa«t that Lloyd and Clive 

 Brown, formerly residents of Sioux City, took a female of the 

 Purple Finch in the vicinity of Sioux City. This specimen was 

 identified by Dr. R. M. Anderson, as Dr. Rich informs me, but 

 the record was never published. 



32. Goldfinch. Astragalinus tristis. Noted in considerable 

 numbers (thirty and forty on two trips) throughout the winter. 



33. Pine Siskin. Spimis pimis. The only note to be re- 

 corded on this species this winter is its scarcity A single indi- 

 vidual was noted on December 23 (Stephens) and another on 

 December 30 (Allen). Thus it bears out its reputation for 

 irregular and erratic behavior. 



34. Snow Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis. The statement 

 of a year ago that this species has never been recorded here 

 (op. cit., p 247) must now be corrected.^ Dr. Rich has written 

 the writer (under date of March 11, 1918) that he recalls seeing 

 and hearing these birds in Morningside on a cold, stormy day. 

 He is not able to give the date, for his records have been lost. 

 However, it was a number of years ago, before the suburb was 

 built up as it is today. The Snow Bunting is listed also in 

 the collection made by the Brown brothers in this vicinity 

 betW'Cen fifteen and twenty years ago. During the present 

 winter the Snow" Bunting has been reported at localities in the 

 eastern portions of Woodbury and Monona counties, in Iowa. 

 Mrs. Geo. Smith saw a flock of about thirty Snowflakes at a 

 farm house between Castana and ]\Iapleton on January 6, 1918. 

 Another observer saw a flock of about ten in front of his barji 

 in Castana one day during the week of Febiiiary 3. Dr. 

 W. H. Dewey reports that Snow Buntings were "fairly plenti- 



^This statement was probably correct so far as any published record is 

 concerned : but the writer was not aware at that time that the species had 

 been observed at all. 



