FRINGILLID.E — THE FINCHES. 509 



Dimensions : Total lensfth, 7.50 ; wing, 4.80 ; tail, 3.50. Exposed portion of first pri- 

 maiy, 3.50. Bill, from forehead, .69 ; from nostril, .42. Legs : tarsus, .95 ; middle toe 

 and claw, .92 ; claw alone, .35 ; hind toe and claw, .09 ; claw alone, .38. 



Hab. Aleutian Islands (St. George's and Unalaschka). 



This is considerably the largest of the American species of Lcucostidc, and 

 has a longer bill. It also has the chocolate and rose color darker, and the 

 rose extending farther forward on the breast than in other species. It could 

 only be confounded with C. littoral is as to color, both having the head above, 

 and on the sides, ashy, covering the whole ear-coverts ; but the dusky patch 

 on the crown is more extended, the ash of chin more restricted, and the 

 throat darker. The rose extends farther along the breast, and the tints are 

 different. The size is much larger. 



A specimen, apparently young, perhaps a female, differs in duller tints, 

 and a tinge of ochreous-yellow on the middle of the abdomen and crissuni. 

 The lining of the wings is without any rose-color. 



Bonaparte and Schlegel describe the young of this species as without rose- 

 color. 



Specimens of this bird were obtained at St. George's Island, with the eggs 

 (which are white), by ^Ir. W. H. Dall. Dr. Minor found it at Unalaschka. 



Habits. The Gray-eared Finch is the largest species of this remarkable 

 genus known to inhabit North America. Thus far, except in one instance, it 

 has been met with only in the Aleutian Islands and Unalaschka. In the latter 

 place they were met with by Dr. T. T. Minor, and in the former by ]\fr. Dall. 



Mr. R. Brown (Ibis, 1868, p. 4.32) states that a single specimen uf this 

 very rare bird was taken at Fort Eupert, Vancouver Island, in June, 1862^ 

 by Mr. P. ^I. Compton, the officer in charge of that station. This, however, 

 may ha^'e belonged to the var. littoralis. 



^Ir. Dall states that they abound on the Pribylow and the other Aleutian 

 Islands. A number of specimens were obtained on the St. George's in Au- 

 gust, though at that time they were moulting. At that season this bird 

 had no song except a clear chirp, sounding like ived-a wht-a-ivee-v-ed. It 

 was on the wing a great part of the time, rarely alighting on the ground, but 

 darting rapidly in a series of descending and ascending curves. At one time 

 it would swing on the broad top of an umbelliferous plant, and at another 

 alight on some ledge of the perpendicular bluff, jumping from point to point, 

 as if delighting to test its own auilitv. ]\Ir. Dall adds that its nest is a 

 simple hollow on one of the ledges, provided with a few straws or a bit of 

 moss. They deposit their eggs in ^lay, and these are four in number. In 

 August their young were fully Hedged. 



They feed on the seeds of grasses and other small plants, but in the crop 

 of one ]\Ir. Dall found two or three small beetles. They were also received 

 from Kodiak, through ^Ir. Bischoff. 



Their eggs are of a grayish-white, with a slight tinge of yellowish, and 

 measure .95 by .70 of an inch. 



