FRINGILUD.K-TIIE FINCIIl-X 133 



higli niountaiu-ranjfes it was a cliaractcristic and tlif liost -known sin;,'cv, as 

 well as ujie of tlio most abundant of the Friiujillulw, l)uing found in all 

 bushy places, from the bases to the summits of the mountains. It is exelu- 

 sively a summer species, arrivinj,' at Carson City about the middle of April. 

 He describes the usual note ol' this bii'd as very peculiar, and, as neai'ly as 

 can be described, a sweet lau^hiny utterance oi' the syllal)les lirk-lnf,', a 

 little resembling the timt. of a Canary, but very musical. This curious note 

 was generfilly uttered when anything unusual attracted its attention, such as 

 the approach of an intruder. Then, witii ehivated tail and its v(ny consi)ic- 

 uous red cap raised, it would hop familiarly and unsusi>iciously about. He 

 adds that it is a songster of high merit, in power and variety raid<ing very 

 little below the song of the Vliundcstis (jnimmum. The song varies in the 

 modulations greatly with the individual, but the .same general style is pre- 

 served. At times it seemed to have a slight resend dance to the song of 

 Bewick's Wren, and at others to that of a Ci/aiw.ynza, and nuire rarely, ti> 

 to be the reproduction of a passage from the song of the t'liondixtcs. 



In the early part of July, near Austin, in the canons of the mountains, he 

 found tiiese birds breeding in the greatest abundance, and later in the same 

 month a few of its nests were found on the East Humlwldt Mountains. All 

 of its nests, with hardly an exception, were placed from eighteen inches to 

 two feet above the ground, among the thick Irishes of a si)eeies of Si/mji/iori- 

 cai'pu.% or " snow-berry," which grows in great almndance upon the siiles of 

 the canons of those mountaiu.s. The maxinmm number of eggs was four. 

 It was also quite a common bird in the Wahsatch Mountains, though less 

 abundant than the P. mrt/oloin/x. 



Mr. Allen found this Finch quite numerous in Colorado Territory, and 

 speaks ol its song as very peculiar and very pleasing. It is said to resemble 

 in no respect the eastern Towhee Finch, with which it is classed, hut much 

 more closely the group of Sparrows, so familiarly represented at the east 

 by the White-throated, being like them in haliits, song, and general aspect. 

 It was more common among the foot-hills than on the plains. In Utah, 

 according to Mv. Allen, this Finch begins to ai)iK'iir in numbers al)out Sep- 

 tember 20, from its breeding-haunts in the mountains. 



Dr. Coues met with this s])eeies in Arizona, Ind only as a sju-ing ami au- 

 tumn migrant. None remained there in summer to laeed, and none were 

 found there in the winter. In its migrations it passed rapidly by Fort 

 Whipple, being found there only during the latter part of April and the 

 beginning of May, and during the month of September. At those seasons 

 it appeared to him the nujst silent and retiring of all the Pipilos. He Ibund 

 it very diilicult to either ob.serve its habits or to ('a])ture it. It winters 

 spaiingly at Fort Mohave. 



Si)ecimens of this bird were taken near Lookout ]\Iountain by C. S. Mc- 

 Carthy, and at Ciilmer, in Wyoming Ti'rritory, by Mr. Durkee. 



Dr. Heennann, in his I?ej)ort on the Itirds observed on the .">lid parallel, 



