BIRDS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 133 



HOUSE FINCH (LINNET) (Car- 

 podacus mexicanus) : 5]/^ in. Upper 

 parts grayish-brown and faintly 

 streaked; head, throat, breast, wing- 

 bend, and rump red; belly light gray, 

 with narrow dark stripes, especially on 

 sides; bill short and stout; tail forked. 

 Female: Red absent; upper parts gray- 

 ish-brown; below whitish with streaks 

 of brown. Often seen in flocks. Com- 

 monly nests near dwellings. Song a pro- 

 longed rollicking series of notes vary- 

 ing in pitch and often ending with a 

 rising inflection. 



Frequents a great variety of situa- 

 tions chiefly in the Lower and Upper 

 Sonoran life-zones. Inhabits woodland, 

 forest and chaparral borders, deserts, 

 and cultivated lands. R. at lower ele- 

 vations in the Yosemite region. C. .V. 

 to Yosemite Valley. 



CALIFORNIA PINE GROSBEAK 

 (Pinicola enucleator): 8-9/2 in. Head, 

 neck, breast, and rump rose-red; back 

 gray tinged with rosy; wings dark 

 brown with two white wing-bars; large 

 beak; forked tail. Female: Plumage 

 generally gray with hint of red on 

 head and rump. Feeds on berries and 

 needle buds and seeds of coniferous 

 trees. 



Frequents chiefly broken coniferous 

 forest often near meadows or a stream 

 in the high Canadian and Hudsonian 

 life-zones. Sparse R. in the high Sierra 

 Nevada. In the Yosemite region has 

 ^ been observed at elevations from 8,500 

 feet up to timberline. 



SIERRA NEVADA ROSY FINCH 



(Leucosticte tephrocotis) : 5/2-6/2 in. 

 Black head-cap, bordered with ash- 

 gray ; above grayish - brown ; middle 

 area of wings, rump, and belly with 

 varying amounts of rose-red; throat 

 and breast rich brown, darkest on chin ; 

 bill and feet black; bill yellow in fall 

 and winter, in male. Female: Resem- 

 bles male, but colors duller, less rosy; 

 bill lighter. Feeds on insects frozen in 

 J the snow or taken on the wing; also 

 eats the . seeds of sedges and other 

 plants. 



HOUSE FINCH 

 5*4 



Closely restricted to the Arctic-alpine 

 and high Hudsonian life-zones where 

 it frequents alpine turf, snowfields, 

 talus, and cliffs. R. and breeding in the 

 high Sierra, including the Yosemite re- 

 gion. 



PINE SISKIN (Spinus pinus): 4/,- 

 5 in. Above grayish - brown, streaked 

 with dusky; below lighter, streaked; 

 yellow area in wing and at base of tail; 

 tail short, emarginate. Often seen in 

 flocks, flying in jerky, undulating fash- 

 ion. Forages for seeds and buds in 

 conifers and other trees and in flower 

 heads about meadows. 



Frequents chiefly coniferous trees in 

 the Transition to the Hudsonian life- - 

 zone. R. in the Yosemite region; seen ' 

 in Yosemite Valley in summer, 



ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH (Spinus 

 psaltria): 4 in. Above dull olive-green; 

 below yellow; top of head, wings, and 

 tail black; wings with white area; white 

 patches in middle of outer tail feath- 

 ers. Female: Lacks black cap; less 

 yellow. Often associated with thistles. 

 Twittering call as it flies, often in an 

 indirect, undulating manner. Feeds in 

 weed clumps and bushes on seed-heads 

 of composites and other plants. 



Frequents open terrain with scattered -. 

 trees and bushes. R. in the Lower So- 

 noran to the Transition life-zone. C. V. 

 to Yosemite Valley. 



