BIRDS OF NEW YORK 279 



of lower California and southern New Mexico, and to northern Michigan, 

 Nova Scotia and in the Appalachian mountains to North Carolina, nesting 

 also casually in Massachusetts and the lower Hudson valley. In winter 

 it wanders over the whole United States and northern Mexico, but is 

 erratic in its habits and distribution. Some years it appears in great 

 numbers in various parts of the State; other seasons it is almost unknown. 

 The years of unusual occurrence were 1882, 1886, 1891, 1898, 1901, 1909. 

 It must not be assumed that it does not occur nearly every season, especially 

 in the eastern and northern portions of the State, but certainly is rather 

 uncommon except at intervals of a few years. The flocks arrive from 

 the north from the 4th to the i6th or sometimes the 30th of October and 

 wander about various localities where food is abundant, become commoner 

 again in April and May, and are last seen from the loth to the 30th of 

 May, but occasionally as late as the 27th of June, sometimes remaining 

 to breed, as happened at Ossining, May 25, 1883 (Fisher, N. O. C. Bui. 

 8:180), and at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, May 3-12, 1887 (Allen, Auk, 4: 

 284), at Remsen, April 4-9, 1889 (Ralph and Bagg list). In the higher 

 Catskills, but more particularly in the Adirondacks, it is likely to breed 

 each season, although in what part of the Adirondacks the principal breed- 

 ing will occur is problematic. In the spring of 1905 immense numbers 

 of these birds bred in Essex county in the region surrounding the higher 

 peaks of Marcy and Skylight, and young fully fledged and feeding them- 

 selves were found in large flocks when we visited the district on the i6th 

 of June. Doctor Merriam speaks of them breeding abundantly in the 

 western Adirondacks in various seasons. Some years, however, they seem 

 to be entirely absent from all portions of the Adirondacks as a breeding 

 species, although it is possible that, if search of the whole region were 

 made, some would be found breeding in unexpected places. Its breeding 

 in the southern portions of the State as recorded at Ossining and Cornwall 

 is certainly very exceptional. 



Haunts and habits. The Pine siskin resembles the Goldfinch in habits, 

 its flight being undulating, and the flocks usually proceeding over the 



