PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS 181 



In the preceding chronicles no mention, I believe, has 

 been made of one little bird that deserves more than a 

 mere obiter dictum. My first meeting with the blithe- 

 some house-finch of the West occurred in the city of 

 Denver, in 1899. It could not properly be called a 

 formal presentment, but was none the less welcome on 

 that account. I had scarcely stepped out upon the 

 busy street before my ear was accosted by a kind of 

 half twitter and half song that was new to me. " Surely 

 that is not the racket of the English sparrow ; it is too 

 musical," I remarked to a friend walking by my side. 



Peering among the trees and houses, I presently fo- 

 cussed my field-glass upon a small, finch-like bird whose 

 coat was striped with gray and brown, and whose face, 

 crown, breast, and rump were beautifully tinged or 

 washed with crimson, giving him quite a dressy appear- 

 ance. What could this chipper little city chap be, with 

 his trig form and well-bred manners, in such marked 

 contrast with those of the swaggering English sparrow ? 

 Afterwards he was identified as the house-finch, which 

 rejoices in the high-sounding Latin name of Carpodacus 

 mexicanus frontalis. His distribution is restricted to 

 the Rocky Mountain district chiefly south of the 

 fortieth parallel of north latitude. 



He is certainly an attractive species, and I wish we 

 could offer sufficient inducements to bring him east. A 

 bird like him is a boon and an ornament to the streets 



