FUINGILLIU.K- THE FINCHES. 4^j 



wl.oro, through July au.l August, it M-as .luite (•..nnn.-n, mul where un.loul.t- 

 edly It breeds, as a young bird unable to fly was obtaine.l. On the Wahsatch 

 Mountains it was a very iibundaiit si)ecies, inhabiting the pines as well as the 

 groves of aspens in the alpine regions. Is is gregarious at all times Hyin-^ 

 111 roving, sereeehiug tloeks. The notes it utters on all occasions re!scnible 

 a very peculiar pr<.nunciation of sirc-cr, given in a very sharj. tone \\'hoii 

 the flock sud.leniy takes to flight, tliis is clianged to a more rattlin.r outcry 

 A nest, containing no eggs, was found in an aspen-tree; and another con- 

 taining one egg, similar to those described elsewhere, was found in a fir-tree 

 (Abirs) situated near the extremity of a horizontal branch about twenty feet 

 from the ground. 



The I'iiio Finch is also a very common and resident l)ird in the ])lateau 

 of Mexico and in the alpine regions of the State of \'era Cruz. Its common 

 name there is Dominif/ul/o montcro. In the alpine regions Sumichrast states 

 tiiat It IS found to the height of six thousand five hundred feet, and does not 

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

 frequents the i)lateau. 



Cai)tain Blakiston met with this, species on tlie plains .if the Saskatche- 

 wan, near the I{ocky Mountains, August (J, l.Sr.8. 



In the eastern i)ortion of .Massachusetts it is somcwliat irregular in its 

 movements and apj.earance, which are sui.]iosed to be affected by the abun- 

 dance or scarcity of its food elsewhere. Here it feeds chiefly on seeds of 

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

 forest trees have failed it. They arc usually most aliundant h.te in the 

 season and after heavy falls of snow farther north have diminished their 

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

 of 1859-00, remaining until quite late in the season, and again in the win- 

 ter of 18G8-tiU, remaining until the last week in .May. In \Vestern iAIas- 

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

 abundant. It arrives early in October, and may b.; seen in small flocks from 

 that time to the third week in .Alay. It sometimes freiiuents the apple- 

 orchards, where it feeds on the Aphiiks. According to Dr. Coues, this si)e- 

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

 common there. 



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

 the seeds of the abler. Later in the season they collecteil in larger flocks 

 and took lip their abode among the pine woods. In one particular locality, 

 he states, a flock of two or three hundred of these birds regularly wintered, for 

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

 ai)undant food throughout the season. Early in Alarch they all disappeared. 

 While there, they were so tame as to allow a person to approach within a 

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

 cones, at the same time uttering notes cdosely resembling those of the (Jold- 

 fiuch. 



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