7<. THE GRAY-CROWNED LEUC<^ICTE. 



chirps of alarm and call to each otlicr with a long, sweet note, scHnething 

 similar ti> that of the (iolclfiiich (Sf'iiius tristisl. They kccj) uj) a constant 

 clicrpiiig re])ctititin of this note when feetling in |>arties. and if one nf their 

 iunnlK.'r is shot the others a|)i)roach closer and closer to the luniter, and gaze 

 with mingled curiosity and symj^thy ii]x>n their fluttering com|)anion." 



No. 27. 



GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. 



A. O. I'. Xci. 324. Leucosticte tephrocotis Swains. 



Synonyms. — Rosy Finch. Swainsons Rosy Finch. 



Description. — .UUilts: Similar to /,. /. littoralis but ashy gray of head re- 

 stricted to sides of crown and occi])Ut — in worn ]>lumaj;cs black of crown pro- 

 duced backward to meet brown of hinil neck. Seasonal changes as in succeeding. 

 Size of next. 



Recognition Marks. — Si)arrow size : warm brown plumage ; ashy gray not 

 encroaching upon sides of head as distinguisheil from /.. t. littoralis. 



Nesting. — Not known to breed in Washington. "Xest made of strips of 

 bark and grass, built in a fissure of a rock at the side of a bunch of grass" ( Reed (. 

 Eyi/s: 4 or 3, white. Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — ImiH-rfectly made out — probably discontinuous. Reported 

 breeding from such widely separated localities as the Rocky Mountains of 

 British .\merica and the Sierra Nevada and White .Moimtains of southern Cali- 

 fornia; winters ou the eastern slopes of the Rockies aii<l irregularly eastward to 

 western .Nebraska. Manitoba, etc.. westward to Cascade and Sierra Nevada 

 ranges (Camp I larvey, ( )re. I'ldlman, Wash. Chilliwhack. H. C. ). 



Range in Washington. — I'robably of regidar occurrence during nugrations 

 and in winter east of the Cascade Mountains only. 



Authorities. — Xot IrCiiously reported: W. T. Shaw in cpistola. Dec. 31, 

 1908. 



Specimens. — Tullman. 



MOL'.N'r.M.N climbing as nil art is still in its infancy in the Northwest 

 and altho the Mountaineers and the Mazamas are attacking the situation 

 vigorously we have yet much to learn of the wild life u])on our Washington 

 sierras. But what ])rol)lem could he more fascinating to a lover of birds and 

 mountains than that of working out accurately the distribution of the Rosy 

 Finches in .America? They are the mountaineers par excellence, they are the 

 Jebusitcs of the untaken citadels, and our ignorance of their ways will ere 

 long l)ecome a reproach to our vaunted western enterprise. As it stands. 



