424 ANIMAL LIFE IX THE YOSEMITE 



indeterminate brown female-like plumage. Upon collecting some of the 

 latter birds we found them all to be males and in breeding condition. 

 Apparently, so far as the Cassin Purple Finches were concerned, this was 

 a 'stag' flock, the males flocking separately, a trait of the species which 

 has been noted elsewhere in the mountains of California. 



Throughout the course of our field work at the higher altitudes Cassin 

 Purple Finches were encountered frequently. In early summer when 

 nesting duties were engaging their attention, single birds or pairs were 

 seen as a rule; but later, after the broods had been reared, family parties 

 were encountered. Close to the top of Mt. Hoffmann on June 29, 1915, 

 fully 6 males of this species were singing volubly. Probably 6 singing 

 birds would be the average number to be observed during a morning. 

 Later in the year our censuses record about 10 birds seen in an hour in 

 favorable countr}\ The flocks are never large, rarely exceeding a dozen 

 birds. 



At Merced Grove Big Trees in June, 1915, a male bird, which probably 

 had a mate on a nest in the vicinity, used to come to the ground near the 

 ranger cabin in the early morning and hop about confidingly in the litter 

 of needles, searching for food. 



We found no occupied nests of the Cassin Purple Finch. At Mono 

 Mills on May 17, 1916, an individual was seen finishing a nest 40 feet 

 above ground in the outermost crotch of a pine branch. Near Peregoy 

 Meadow on May 20, 1919, a female was seen to disappear into a dense 

 fir bough 60 feet above the ground. At EUery Lake, 9500 feet altitude, 

 on July 6, 1916, a female Cassin Purple Finch was observed feeding fully 

 grown young, while at the same time the members of another pair were 

 engaged in building a nest. A male bird taken in Lyell Caiion on July 23, 

 1915, had passed the height of the breeding season. It would seem, there- 

 fore, that the Cassin Purple Finch here as elsewhere has a long nesting 

 season, beginning in late May and lasting at least until the end of July. 



The feeding habits of the Cassin Purple Finch are like those of the 

 California. It forages either in the tops of the trees or on the ground, 

 rarely feeding in bushes and then only on the outer foliage. Near Tama- 

 rack Flat, on May 24, 1919, a male of this species was seen feeding on the 

 urn-like buds of the green manzanita. Young buds of one sort or another, 

 especially needle buds of the coniferous trees, seem to be the preferred 

 food. These and similar tender growths are likely the staple food of 

 the Cassin Purple Finch during the long winter season when the ground 

 is covered with snow. 



