NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 287 



which is generally loosely put together ; the inner portions are of finer 

 material of the same, lined with wool or a few hairs. 



The eggs are four or five in number ; they are of a bluish-green 

 or light emerald-green, marked with spots of brown and dull purple, 

 chiefly around the larger end ; in some specimens they form a confluent 

 ring ; others are spotted over the entire surface, but less abundantly 

 than at the end. Mr. Cooper gives the sizes of a set of four taken 

 May 2, as .83 x .57, .81 x .56, .81 x .56, .80 x .54 ; another set, taken May 

 3, give the following measurements: .75 x .55, .73 x .56, .72 x .56, 

 .71X.57.* 



A set of four eggs in Mr. Norris' cabinet were collected June 14, 

 1888, near Salem, Oregon. The nest was made of grass and small 

 twigs, lined with hair, and was situated in a small maple tree, thirty 

 feet from the ground. The eggs are bluish-green, speckled and 

 spotted with olive. They measure .84 x .57, .83 x .57, .83 x .57, .86 x .56. 



518. Carpodacus casslnl Baird. [169.] 



Cassin'B Pnrple Fincli. 



Hab. Western United States, from the Rocky Mountains to tlie Pacific, north to British Columbia, 

 south over the highlands of Mexico. 



A common bird in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Eastern Califor- 

 nia. Its general habits, nesting and eggs are very similar to those of 

 the Purple Finch of the East. The nest is found in various situations, 

 box-alder bushes, the tops of cottonwood, aspen and pine trees. It is 

 composed principally of roots and twigs, lined with softer material of 

 the same, together with moss and cotton. 



The eggs are usually four in number, and a typical specimen is 

 oval in shape, pointed at the smaller end. The color is light bluish- 

 green, dotted around the larger end with slate, lilac and blackish- 

 brown. The average size is .84 x .62. 



519. Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis (Say) [170,170a.] 



House Finch. 



Hab. Western United States, from the Rocky Mountains to Pacific coast (chiefly south of 40° in the 

 interior), and south through Western -^nd Central Mexico to Colima and Guanajuato, Lower California. 



{Ridgw.} 



This bird is known as the Red-headed Linnet or Burion. We also 

 include under this head the supposed race C. frontalis rhodocolpus 

 (Cab.)t It is a very common bird in the interior region of the United 

 States, from Nevada, Utah and Colorado southward, and is also abund- 

 ant on the Pacific coast. Mr. Shields mentions this as one of the best 



*Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, III, pp. 8-10. 



t No 519«, Crimson House Finch, of the A. O. U. Check List, which Prof. Ridgway believes to be 

 untenable — for further details see Manual of North American Birds, p. 391. 



