176 FATUKAL HISTORY COLLECTIOIS'^S IN ALASKA. 



The Luxia hi/usciata of Europe aud Siberia is very much like leiicoptera, but differs iu having a 

 hirger and more robust form throughout. The red of the male is dull scarlet, in contrast to the 

 rose-red and purplish-red of leiicoptcra. In its stout pioportions it,resembles curvirostra, while iu 

 some of the color-uiarkiugs, especially in the female, it resembles leucoptera, so that it appears to 

 unite several of the characteristic marks of the two species aud to merit an intermediate position 

 between the plain and the banded winged species. 



Leucosticte guiseonucha (Braudt). Aleutiau Leucosticte. 



On the Aleutiau Islands from one extreme to the other is fouud this large aud beautiful flnch, 

 extendiug its habitat thence north to iuclude the Seal Island group and the small island of Saint 

 Matthews, still farther to the north. East of the Aleutian chain it reaches Kadiak Island. Upon 

 all these islands, with the exception of Saint Matthews aud the Fur Seal group, it is a permanent 

 resident. 



For a knowledge of its habits we are indebted mainly to the observations of Jlessrs. Dall and 

 Elliott. The latter saw a few ou the island of Saint Matthews August 9, 1874, aud this forms our 

 onl}' record from that point. Ou the Seal Island group the same observer fouud it abundant, aud 

 tells us nearly all we have concerning its breeding habits. We learn that on these strange islets 

 the "Pa7itos/(/«e," as it is termed by the creoIe iuhabitauts of the island — 



Nests iu a cbiuk or crevice of the cliii's, building a w.irui, snug liome for its little cues, of dried grasses aud moss, 

 very ucatly put together, aud then liued with a few superfluous feathers. The eggs vary iu uumber from three to six ; 

 there generally is four. They are pure -white with a delicate rosy blush, when fresh, and measure O.'JT by 0.67 of au 

 inch. The youug break the shell at the expiration of twenty or twenty-two days' incubation, the labor of which is 

 not shared by the male ; he, however, brings food to his mate, singing as most birds do of his kind, highly elated by 

 the prospects of paternity. The chicks, at first, are sparsely covered with a sprinkling of dark-gray down, aud in 

 two or three weeks gain their feathers, fitting them for flight, though they do not acquire the ash .and black of the 

 head, while the chocolate-brown on the back is rich, aud the rosy tints of their feather-tips turn to crimson. These 

 bright hues of adolescence do not appear until they are one year old; between the old birds, however, there is no 

 outward dissimilarity iu size and coloration, the male and female being exactly alike. They feed upon various seeds 

 and insects, as well as the larva; which swarm ou the killing-grounds. They are fearless aud confiding, fluttering iu 

 the most familiar manner around the village huts. In the summer of 1673 a pair builttheir nests aud reared a brood 

 under the eaves of the old Greek church, that tottered on its rotten foundations, at .St. George. 



This bird has no song, but utters a low, mellow chirp. It seems to pair permanently, and 

 never assembles iu flocks. Dall adds that it has no song at any season, but a clear chirji-like 

 weet-a-u-eet-arceet-ircct. He reports it as on the wing a great part of the time, avoiding the ground, 

 but darting rapidly iu a series of ascending aud descending curves, now springing on the broad 

 top of some umbelliferous plant, now alighting on the ledge of a perpendicular blnft', jumping 

 from point to point, seemingly delighted at its own agility. The nest which he found ou the 

 Aleutian Islands was iu a small hollow ou one of the ledges, provided with a few straws and bits 

 of moss. The eggs are deposited iu May, and iu August the young are fully-fledged. He considers 

 the birds as almost wholly gramnivorous, but fouud several beetles iu the crop of one. xVt Uua- 

 laska he found it especially uuuierous, and on May 24 took its nest from a crevice in a rocky bank 

 ou the shore of Captain's Harbor. The structure was of grass, very neatly woven together, aud 

 lined with fine grass aud a few feathers. It contained five eggs, newly laid, and was about 12 

 feet above the beach. The birds were found singly or in pairs frequenting the grassy banks and 

 rocky bluffs uear the shore. It was not fouud at elevated points ou the mountaius. 



Daring my residence at Uualaska, in May and June, 1877, I saw but a single individual of 

 this species, the last of May, as it was fluttering from point to point along the face of a high cliff, 

 at such a distance that it escaped my shot and disappeared over the brow of the precipice. I spent 

 considerable time searching for them in every suitable location, from my arrival up to the date of 

 leaviug — the 1st of June— but none were to be found; yet only a few sea.sous before they had been 

 Ibuud numerous by Mr. Dall, over exactly the same ground — an additional illustration of the fa- 

 miliar fact that a bird may be numerous at a place in one season and the next finds that locality 

 without a single example. On my return to the Aleutian Islands, the last of September, 18S1, up 

 to our leaving, ou October 4, of the same seasou, I again nuide search for this finch, but with the 

 same lack of success which attended my jirevious efforts. 



