2 The Wilson Bulletin.— No. 42. 



particular male, and sometimes a female, have regular sleep- 

 ing-nooks in a porch of the writer's home, and long before 

 nightfall the birds seek their quarters. I have seen a leu- 

 costicte enter a tubular eaves-trough and there spend the 

 night. Frequently they flutter under projecting eaves, and 

 cling to some protruding support for the night. 



In 1899, I first noted the leucostictes on October 30, 

 when a troop of fifteen was seen gleaning on a vacant lot 

 on Main street at Lewiston. When disturbed, they arose 

 with sharp, metallic, scolding notes, keeping together and 

 flying away in irregular, undulating, capricious flight. B\' 

 November 16, the number of the flock had increased to 

 about sixty. They fed near the school building, and were 

 quite fearless and friendly, an individual frequently alighting 

 within six feet of me. 



The leucostictes are extremely restless, flitting in irregu- 

 lar, jerky movements. They have a trilling chirp which 

 they utter a-wing and on the ground. They alight about 

 the buildings much like English Sparrows, preferring pro- 

 jecting parts, gutters, window sills, and gables. They fre- 

 quently alight in a window, even if some one is standing at 

 the window inside. 



These birds feed on the seeds of the dwarf sage, or they 

 glean from the snow around the bases of such plants. They 

 often frequent the hillsides at the margins of snowy areas. 

 In the spring, when a thaw is taking place, a whole flock- 

 will congregate on a spot eight or ten feet across, all peck- 

 ing industriously at the bare ground. They also frequent 

 the margins of dry ditches, or a walk or fence on sloping 

 ground, where exposed spots are found. Some of a flock 

 are in motion at any time, flitting nervously to another 

 portion of the feeding. place. Often the entire flock will 

 take wing with a dull whirr of wings, many of the birds utter- 

 ing a quick alarm note like the syllable " quir," or " quie," 

 or "quie quie." Rising in scattering order, with capricious, 

 undulating movement, they may circle down immediately to 

 the same forage-spot. 



