FIMNT.ILLID.K — THK FINCHES. 471) 



Habits. Tliis s]«>cii's, now known to 1m> so common tlironghunt tlio <^i('iitt'r 

 portion of Ciiliroiiiiii, wii.s first dcsc rilmd liy Mr. Ciissin in IS'iO. Dr. Ilccr- 

 n)cinn iii'terwiirds i'ountl Ihcni very iiltundiint tliroiighout tlio nortliorn mining 

 regions of Ciiliforniii, I'roijnonting the hillsides covered with brnsh, the scieds 

 and Imd;) oi" which thoy eiit with great avidity. Later in the Hea.son he t'oniid 

 them at San Diego, in quest of grass-seeds on the level plains. They were 

 in large Hocks, and ,so closely [tacked that he shot thirteen at one discharge. 

 Their nests, he states, are Imilt in the fork of a bush or stunted oak, and are 

 composed of line grasses, lined with hair and feathers. They contain four or 

 five pure white eggs. 



Mr. L'idgway only met with this Goldfinch near the foot of the western 

 slope of the Sierra Nevada. 



Dr. Cooper met with a few of this species at Fort Mohave, on the Colorado, 

 but found them more nuua'rous near tiie coast as i'lir latrth as San Francisco, 

 at least, and also in the more northern mining regions, lie lias seen them 

 about .San Francisco in December, and has no doubt that they remain all the 

 winter throughout the lower country. They seem to avoid the mountainous 

 regions, and have not been met with in Oregon. 



Their habits and their song are, in general respects, similar to those of the 

 Goldfinch (C. tri.sfis), but tlieir voice is much weaker, and is higher in its 

 pitch. Their nests, Dr. Cooper thinks, are placed, in jtreierence, on the live- 

 oaks ; at least, he has never met with them in any other situation. They are 

 built very much in the style of tho.se of the Goldfinch, but are much smaller, 

 the cavity measuring only an incli in depth and one and a half in breadth. 

 TJie eggs he describes as four or five in number, ])ure white, and measuring 

 .80 by .40 of an inch. He adds tluit they sometimes feed on the ground, on 

 grass-seeils, as well as on buds and seeds of various weeds and trees. They 

 were regarded by him as more of a .sylvan species than the Goldfinch, and 

 not so fond of willows and other trees growing along streams and in ^vet 

 places. In the Colorado Valley they feed on the seeds of the artemisia. He 

 did not notice any there after the middle of April. Kggs, in my own cabi- 

 net, from Monterey, identified by Dr. Canfield, are of a uniform greenish- 

 white, exactly similar to those of C. psaKria and trinfis, and measure only 

 .58 by .45 of an inch, or less in length by .22 than as given l)y Dr. Cooper. 



Three nests of this species obtained at Mftntcrey, Cal., by Dr. Canfield, all 

 exhibit more or less variations as to material and style of make. They are 

 all more or less felted, and beautifully wrought, fully equal in artistic skill to 

 the nests of the Goldfinch. They are about one and a half inches in height 

 and three in diameter, and tlie cavity is an inch in depth and one and three 

 quarters in diameter. Tiie walls of the.se nests are soft, warm, and thick, 

 composed of wool, both vegetable and animal, fine stems of grasses, down, 

 feathers, and other materials, all closely matted together, and lined with 

 the long hair of the larger animals. One of these nests is madci up entirely 

 of the finer grasses, strongly matted together. 



