^ FKINMLMIJ.E- THE FINCHES. 477 



specimens. They were in siuail tn)()])s on 11 rugged hillside covered with a 

 sparse growth of juni^Kirs and stunU'd ]»ines, feeding in conipuny with the 

 Poospiza hiliucdtn. Judging from their actions, and from the fact that none 

 Init males were taken, 1 piesunie they were l)reeding in the vicinity. I fmind 

 S(>me ditliculty in securing s}>eciniens, partly owing to the hroken nature of 

 the locality, and partly to the i>irds' timidity in the unaccustomed j)resenee 

 of man. Those that were shot were all f<»und to have the lesnphagus as well 

 as the gizzard crammed with .seeds. They constantly uttered a plaintive 

 lisping whi-stle as they gathered food, or as they Hew from one tree to another, 

 but their song did not strike my ear as precisely the .same as that of the 

 Goldtinch. These si)ecimens were all in what 1 take to he ])erfect ]>lumage, 

 although the back was mixed with olive and blacdv in nearly e^jual ]>roj tor- 

 tious, and the black t)f the i)ilcum did not reach l>elow the eyes to cit olf 

 the yellow under eyelid from the other yellowish }»arts of the head ; thus 

 closely resembling true psaltria. 



" Upon my arrival at Fort Whi])i)le in July, I found birds of this tyi)e 

 abundant, and took a good many during the iwo Ibllowing numths, when 

 they disappeared, and I .saw none until about liie iirst of ^lay. A small 

 ravine close by the fort, choked with a rank growth of weeds, was a favorite 

 resort; there the birds could be found at nearly all times in sea.son, in large 

 troops, feeding in company with Chi])ping Sjjarrows, and the Spiul/a atruju- 

 larls. They were very tame during the latter part of the summer, would 

 only rise when very closely ajun-oached, when they Hew in a hesitating man- 

 ner a short distance, and then i)itched down again among the weeds to 

 resume their bu.sy search for food. In their undulating iiight they utter 

 their peculiar note, generally with each impulse of the wings, and keep up 

 a continual chirping when feeding ; but I did not hear their true song at this 

 season. Some of the specimens taken were very young birds, and the spe- 

 cies unquestionably breeds here, although I never succeeded in linding a 

 nest. 



" I should not omit to add, that w hilst at Santa Fe, Xew Mexico, I saw 

 caged birds tliat were thriving well, and api)arently reconciled to confine- 

 ment." 



A nest of this bird, obtained near Camp Grant, Arizona, by Dr. Palmer, is 

 a Hat and shallow structure, having a diameter of three inches, and a height 

 of one and a quarter. The cavity is oidy a slight depression. This nest is 

 made of a felting of various materials, chielly the cotton-like down of the 

 cotton wood-tree and other soft vegetable matter, line stems of grasses, i'rag- 

 ments of mosses, and various other similar materials, lined with finer mate- 

 rials of the same. Except in their slightly smaller size, the eggs are not 

 distinguishably diifereut from the preceding. 



