IS BSRGTOLD, I s v/i. [j^ 



as the old ones usually consume but the writer has never detected 

 ;in\ animal t"oinl in the crops or stomachs of House Pinch nestlings. 

 Tins Pinch has never been seen feeding from the horse manure of 

 i lu- streets. 



The House Pinch exhibits, in common with many other birds, 

 a fondness for maple sap, sipping il ash ooiesfrom the cut branches 

 of a spring pruned tree. The only objection my Friends hereabout 

 have against the House Pinch is that it oats in the spring, loaf and 

 blossom buds from bushes and trees For example, lilac bushes 

 and apple trees. 



V*AR1 uu>\ 



The tameness of the bird and one's proximity to it lent by this 

 method of study make it possible to note ami realise the great ami 

 marked variation to be found amongst the House Pinches: one 

 can learn, not only to recognise different individuals by some pecu- 

 liar differences in color or marking, but can also notice and recognise 

 shades and extent of color that have been spoken oi. and described 

 as Forming various races oi this species. 



This impresses one as though there were spread out before him 



a large series Of skins to study; One fools much as a closet naturalist 



must fool when he takes in hand such a series and has the satis- 

 faction oi elaborating a now geographical subspecies. The extremes 

 in color of Feather, bill, tarsus and foot, and the presence or absence 

 of tail emargination become s*-> patent through one's study of the 



bird in this way that, though these aro here soon in birds known 



to be all of the same subspecies, one is almost persuaded to believe 

 the birds aro specifically different. One is impressed, too, by the 

 differences in color, pat torn and marking in birds coming from the 

 same brood. Mature males have boon soon w ith bright yellow th*-. 



and ".■. •::>•. and o\ or\ shade in the mandibles has boon soon. \ an ing 



From ooal black to a graj so light as to bo easily mistaken for white. 



The more one studios this interesting bird, noticing its extreme 

 variability, the more one muses over the validity of species, realis- 

 ing more clearly than ever before that species exist for man 

 onb ; or, if one wishes, one can fool that one is in the presence of 

 tho making of species. 



In tho course of these observations, several birds have boon 



