FRINGILLID.E — Till-: FINTIIE.^. 475 



With (luite a small series of si)et'iiiuMis, a perfect tnuisition can be shown 

 from the typical V. psaltria, as above descrilied. to the ('. nf/tnnbitnuis, the 

 opjtosite extreme (see table, page 47 1 j. The former is the most northern, 

 the hitter the most southern form ; arizomr and ntr.i iniiKf, inteiniediate 

 in hal>itat, are also as strikingly so in ]>luma<j;e. The dilference is in tlie 

 quantity of the black, this col(»r predominating over the olive of the back 

 and the white of wings and tail, in i)roj)ortion as we go southward. There 

 cannot, upon the whole, be any dt>ubt that they are all specitically the same. 

 The females can scarcely be distin<Hiished. 



Habits. The Arkansas Finch was lirst discovered in Long's expedition to 

 the liocky ^lountains, and descriljed by Say in 1823. It has since been met 

 with in New Mexico and in various j)arts of California. l)r. Cooper did not 

 find this s])ecies in the Colorado Valley, although Dr. Kennerly met with 

 it along Williams Fork, m New Mexici). Dr. Woodhouse did not see it in 

 his route to the Zuni Kiver, either in New Mexico or the Indian Territory. 



Dr. Kennerly met with these bir<ls in the month of February, lie found 

 them very abundant all along the banks of the liill Williams Fork. They 

 ^ve^e feeding on the young Ijuds of the cottonwood trees. A that season 

 they were in small Hocks, and the only note he heard from them was a short 

 chirp, as they ho]>i)ed from twig to twig, or flew from one tree to another. 



Dr. Heermann states that he found these Flinches abundant in the northern 

 mining regions of California, fre(]Uenting and feeding in tht* same localities 

 ^vith the C. /cfinrncii, and often associated with the Pine Finch. lie adds 

 that, while thus associated, he shot a large nnnd)er of both species. They 

 seemed to be employed, at the time, in })icking out the tine gravel mixed in 

 the mud used as mortar for a chimney, flying away at each discharge of the 

 gun, but returning, in a few minutes, to the same place. 



Mr. Audubon regarded this sj^ecies as accidental in Louisiana, having 

 procured individuals a few miles from I>ayou Sara. 



The Arkansas ( Joldfinch was lound l)y ^Ir. Iiidgway among the Wahsatch 

 Mountains, his attention being at once drawn to it by its curious notes. He 

 first met with it in " Citv-Creek Canon," near Salt Lake City, where indi- 

 viduals of it were fre<[uently found mixed in with flocks of C. jfi/w.s. The 

 note of this bird is remarkable for its power and very sad tone. The ordi- 

 narj^ note is a plaintive, mellow, whistling call, impossible to describe, and 

 so inflected as to produce a very mournful eflect. When the bird takes to 

 flight, it is changed to a simple rheer, similar to the anxious n'»tes of the male 

 Agdams ph<jenicc7fs, uttered when its nest is disturbed. This species was 

 quite rare, not being so common as either C. pini's or C. tristis. Its nest 

 ^vas found in Parley's Park, Wahsatch Mountains, June 22, in the top of a 

 willow-bush near a stream. 



At San Diego, and along the \vhole coast border of California, Dr. Cooper 

 thinks that this Finch is rather rare. In the interior valleys they seem to 

 be quite common. They also breed in small numbers in the Coast Kange, 



