^"Ig^^^j Bailey, Birds of the Upper Pecos. 357 



but we saw it last a few miles north of Pecos, as in following up the Pecos 

 Canon there were no suitable breeding grounds for it. 



Hesperiphona vespertina montana. Western Evening Grosbeak. 

 — Along the Pecos at about 8000 feet Evening Grosbeaks were found 

 near the middle of July going about in flocks and feeding on the ground 

 around roadside springs. The birds, as we inferred from their actions 

 and as their stomach contents proved, were eating small insects which 

 thej picked up from the surface of the ground or dug up from under 

 roots or stones. When first discovered they were so tame that we could 

 get within a few feet of them. In a flock of twenty or thirtj- males only 

 two females were seen. In going up the mountains we found a few pairs 

 at about ten thousand feet near the junction of the Transition and 

 Canadian zones. On our return down the mountains in August only one 

 or two individuals were noted where the large flocks had congregated in 

 July, and as grosbeak voices were heard below Pecos we inferred that the 

 birds had gone down into the juniper and pinon pine country to gather 

 berries. 



Pinicola enucleator montana. Rocky Mountain Pine Grosbeak. — 

 Two pairs of Pine Grosbeaks were seen in the Canadian and Hudsonian 

 zones, and one family with grown young was found by Mr. Bailey on 

 August 14 near the Truchas lakes at the head of the Pecos River 

 at 12,000 feet. Both adult and young were taken. The crop and giz- 

 zard of the young were stuffed full of small white oval seeds, while the 

 stomach of the adult contained the same seeds with the addition of a 

 few spruce needles, a spruce flower, and a small green caterpillar. 



Carpodacus cassini. Cassin Finch. — In a flock of Evening Grosbeaks 

 feeding at a spring on July 15, we discovered a solitary male Cassin 

 FincJT, the only one seen during the season. 



Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis. House Finch. — In Colorado the 

 House Finch breeds up to 8000 feet, but on the east side of the Las Vegas 

 range Mr. Mitchell did not find it "to any great extent"; in the Pecos 

 Mountains Mr. Henshaw did not find it at all, and we saw it only at the 

 base of the range between Pecos and Glorieta. 



Loxia curvirostra bendirei. Bendire Crossbill. — At 11,000 feet the 

 crossbills were common, flying about among the cone-laden spruce tops 

 and, hunger appeased, stopping to sing their quaint, pleasing song. At 

 11,600 feet they were occasionally heard flying over, and on our way 

 down the Pecos, August 21 and 22, they were seen at 8000 feet and again 

 at 7400 feet. 



Astragalinus psaltria. Arkansas Goldfinch. — Goldfinches were 

 found in the cottonwoods at Glorieta July 7. 



Spinus pinus. Pine Finch. — Siskins were seen from 7500 to 11,600 feet, 

 but they were most abundant at 11,000 feet, where they were constantly 

 singing and flying about in small squads, which were probably families. 

 On August 17, as we came down the mountains, a family of young was 

 found out of the nest at 10,400 feet. 



