FUINGILLID.K — THE FINCHES. 481 



where, tliruiigli 'Tuly and Aiii^iist, it was ([uite cnminon, and where unduultt- 

 edly it breeds, as a y(mn.«j;: hird unable U) Hy was obtained. On the Walisjiteli 

 Mountains it was a very al»undant si>eeies, inliahiting tlie i»ines as well as the 

 groves of aspens in tlie aljune re^iX'"HS. Is is «;reuarious at all times, flying' 

 in roving-, sereeehini,' Hoeks. The notes it utters on all occasions resemble 

 a very peculiar pronunciation of si'r-cr, «);iven in a very sharj> tone. When 

 the Hock sudiU'nly takes to flight, this is chanj^ed to a more mttling outcry. 

 A nest, containing no eiigs, was fountl in an asj>en-tree ; and another, con- 

 tainin*^ one e^^^x, similar to those described elsewhere, was found in a fir-tree 

 (Abifs) situated near the extremity of a horizontal branch al)out twenty feet 

 from the ground. 



The Tine Finch is also a very common and resident bird in the ])lateau 

 of Mexico and in the alpine regions of the State of Vera Cruz. Its common 

 name there is Ihntuiit/ffifo muiittro. In the al})ine ret^aons Sumichrast states 

 that it is found to the hei«;ht of six thousand five hundred feet, antl does not, 

 to his knowledge, descend below three thousand feet. It most especially 

 frequents the jdateau. 



Ca])tain Blakiston met with this species on the jdains of the Saskatche- 

 wan, near the liocky Mountains, August 0, 1S.")8. 



In the eastern portion of Massachusetts it is somewhat irregular in its 

 movements and ap})earance, which are supposed to be affected by the abun- 

 dance or scarcity of its f(»od elsewhere. Here it feeds chiefiy on seeds of 

 grasses and weeds, probably only after the seeds of the hendock and other 

 forest trees have failed it. They are usually most abunchmt late in the 

 season and after heavy falls of snow farther n(>rth have diminished their 

 means of subsistence. Mr. Maynard found it very numerous in the winter 

 of 1859 -GO, remaining nntil quite late in the season, and again in the win- 

 ter of 1S(J8-G*J, remaining nntil the last week in May. In Western ^las- 

 sachusetts, according to Mr. Allen, it is a regular winter visitant, but never 

 abundant. It arrives early in October, and may be seen in small Hocks from 

 that time to the third week in May. It sometimes frecpu^nts the apple- 

 orchards, whe^e it feeds on the A2)hidt's. According to Dr. C'oues, this spe- 

 cies occasionally strays as far to the south as the Carolinas, but it is not 

 connnon there. 



Wilson observed these birds near Philadelphia, where they were feeding on 

 the seeds of the alder. Later in the season they collected in larger flocks 

 and took up their abode among the pine woods. In one partiv idar locality, 

 he states, a flock of two or three hundred of these l)irds regularly wintered, for 

 many years in succession, where mdde avenues of ]»ines furnished them with 

 abundant food throughout the season. Early in ^larch they all disappeared. 

 While there, they were so tame as to allow a person to ai)[)roach within a 

 few yards. They fluttered among the branches, frequently hanging from the 

 cones, at the same time uttering notes idosely resembling those of tlu^ Gold- 

 finch. 



m 



