FIUN(iILI,lI).K-TllK FINCIIEH. 477 



specimens. Tliey wiuo in sniiill ti'Of)ps on a nigj^ed hillside covered with a 

 sparse yrowtli of jiiniiiers iiiid sUiuted pines, Iccilinj,' in company with the 

 I'ouapixa hiliiiiiitn. AwV^wv^ from their actions, and from the fact that none 

 but males were taken, 1 presume they were hrecaliiij;' in the vicinity. I found 

 .some dilHculty in .securini,' specimens, partly owinij; to the broken nature of 

 the locality, and partly to ihi! birds' timidity in the unaccustomed presence 

 of man. Those that were shctt were all found to have the iusophaj^ns as well 

 as the gizzard crammed with .seeds. They constantly uttered a ]ilaintivo 

 lisping whistle as they gathered food, or as they Hew from one tri'c to anotlicr, 

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

 Goldfinch. These specimens were idl in what 1 take to lu; perfect phunage, 

 although the back was mi.xed with olive and black in nearly e([nal jnojior- 

 tioiis, and the black of the pilcum did not reach below the eyes to cit oil" 

 the yellow under eyelid from the other yellowish parts of the head ; thus 

 closely resembling true 2>snltriti. 



" Upon my arrival at Fort Whipide in July, I found birds of this type 

 abundant, and took a good many during the two following months, wIkmi 

 they disappeared, and I saw none until about the iirst of May. A small 

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

 resort; there the birds coidd be found at nearly all times in .season, in large 

 troops, feeding in company with Chijjping Sj)arrows, and the S^ii'-d/u alrii/n- 

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

 only rise when very olosely approached, when they flew 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 flight they utter 

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

 a continual chirping when feeding ; but 1 did not hear their true song at this 

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

 cies unciuestiouably breeds here, although I never succeeded in lindiny a 

 nest. 



"I .should not omit to add, that whilst at Santa Fe, New Mexico, I saw 

 caged birds tliat were thri\ing well, and apparently reconciled to confine- 

 ment." 



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

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

 of one and a (piarter. The cavity is only a slight de))ression. Tliis nest is 

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

 cottonwood-tree and other soft vegetable matter, fine stems of grasses, frag- 

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

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

 distinguisliably dilTereut from the preceding. 



