OCT., 1899.1 BIRDS. 123 



111 Sej^teniber tliey were rarely observed on upper S«iuaw Creek, but 

 September 18 a tlock was seen near the bead of Panther Creek. They 

 were coinmon in JMud Creek Canyon about the end of July and begin- 

 uing- of August. On September 2!) I visited the juniper forest in Shasta 

 Valley, and was surprised to find there dozens of evening grosbeaks, 

 and still larger numbers of Townsend solitaires, feeding on the fat berries 

 of the junipers {Jiinipcriis oeeidentaJis). At Sisson in September R. T. 

 Fisher found tiocks flying restlessly over the valley. 



When in the molt the extraordinary color combinations of the males 

 surpass even those of the crossbills. 



76. Carpodacus cassini. Cassin Purple Finch. 



A common summer resident in the Canadian and ITudsonian zones. 

 Specimens were collected in July and August at various points from 

 Wagon Camp, in the lower edge of the Shasta firs, to timberline, at 

 the upper limit of I'iniis albicauU.s; and during our circuit of the moun- 

 tain near timberline July 22 to 25 the species was heard or seen every 

 day. At our camp in the alpine hemlocks on upper Sqiiaw Creek, it 

 was common and tame, and in early August usually began singing 

 about daylight. On August .") I saw one singing in a small white-bark 

 pine on a ridge east of Mud Creek Canyon at an altitude of 8,800 feet, 

 far above continuous timberline. A tlock, probably migrating, was ob- 

 served at the head of Panther Creek September 18, 



77. Carpodacus mexicanns obscurus (McCall). House Finch. 

 [= Carpodacn.s m. froniaUs Auct].' 



Common at Sisson and in Shasta Yalley, but not seen on the moun- 

 tain, where it is replaced by the preceding sj^ecies. At Ager ^"ernon 

 Bailey found it breeding abundantly in old nests of liullock orioles. 



78. Loxia curvirostra bendirei Eidgway. Sierra lied Crossbill. 



Red crossbills are common on Shasta. Small tiocks were heard 

 nearly every day throughout the season and were fre(inently seen to 

 liglit in the tops of the high firs, both at Wagon Camp and Squaw 

 Creek Camp, but they never came into camp to feed, and were rarely 

 seen near by. One was killed at Sisson vSeptember 12 by P. T. Fisher, 

 who found the species common there at that time, feeding in the tall 

 pines and also on the garden sunflowers. Several killed by us near 

 timberline lodged in the dense ibliage of the alpine hemlocks. C. H. 

 Townsend obtained three specimens on Shasta. The crossbill of Shasta 

 is intermediate between the northern subspecies wii»o>- and the southern 

 subspecies stricl-hoidi. It is the same as the Fort Klamath form named 

 by Kidgway as subspecies heniUrei; and specimens collected near 

 Mount Whitney in the southern High Sierra by the Death Valley 

 expedition, though published as stricklamli,^ are practically indistiii- 



' For change of name see Oberholser, Auk, XVI, p. 186, April, iSiiy. 

 -North Am. Fauna, No, 7, p. 81, 1893, 



