Vou. II, Pt. 11] GIFFORD—BIRDS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 243 
The only call heard was a sort of chirp, in spite of the fact 
that the nuptial season was on, as attested by the testes of 
all the adult males skinned. One day I saw an adult male fall 
to the ground from the branch of a bush. Upon approaching 
him he jumped up to a branch, where he hopped about with 
his wings spread and fluttering and his head and neck 
stretched forward, apparently indulging in a form of court- 
ship, although I could not see the object of his affections. 
House cats run wild seem to be the chief enemies that beset 
this and other species of Cocos birds. 
Mr. Beck saw on two or three occasions nests which he 
thinks belonged to the Cocos Island Finch. These were well 
out on slender limbs 20 or 30 feet above the ground. They 
were similar to Geospiza nests in shape and construction, 
though of finer material. In one there were three broken 
eggs, red-spotted and about the size of the eggs of the small- 
est form of Geospiza fulizinosa. 
28. Platyspiza crassirostris: DARWIN’s TREE FINCH 
Abingdon, Albemarle, Bindloe, Charles, Chatham, Duncan, 
Indefatigable, James, Jervis, and Narborough islands. 
Darwin’s Tree Finch was fairly common on the 10 islands 
named above, being found chiefly in the moist and upper dry 
regions, and in sandy coastal localities, where the “poison- 
fruit trees’ (Hippomane mancinella) grow. It was not found 
in flocks as were the ground finches. In November, on south 
Indefatigable, it was found in the humid belt up to an eleva- 
tion of 700 feet. In January one was seen at 1000 feet. In 
the region back of Black Beach Roads, Charles, in February 
and March, it was seen only above 1000 feet elevation. On 
southeast Albemarle it was encountered in August in the 
grassy treeless region above the village of Santo Tomas. 
None was seen in the dense thicket of brake ferns that crowns 
the summit of Abingdon, but below, in the humid belt, they 
were not uncommon. They were found in the vegetation 
about most springs and water holes, both in the interior and 
on the coast. However, none was observed at the water hole 
south of Tagus Cove, Albemarle, which was in the bare rock 
at the edge of the ocean. 
