328 Birds of Colorado 
males are occasionally met with having the plumage of the female, 
and the amount of red or yellow is subject to considerable variation. 
Distribution —The Rocky Mountain Pine-Grosbeak is confined to 
the Rocky Mountains from Idaho and Montana to New Mexico, and 
breeds throughout its range at high elevations. The species as a 
whole is found over the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds. 
In Colorado the Pine-Grosbeak is a not uncommon resident at high 
elevations, chiefly between 9,500 and 12,000 feet, where it is found 
throughout the year, though occasionally stragglers descend to the 
foothills and plains, probably driven down by storms. It has been 
recorded as follows: Estes Park, at timber line (Kellogg and McGregor), 
Boulder co., 10,000 feet, July, 9,000 feet, November (Gale); slope of 
James Peak (Trippe), Breckenridge, breeding (Carter), Tennessee 
Gulch, Lake co. and Pikes Peak (Aiken), Crested Butte, October 
(Warren), S. Mamm Peak, 10,000 feet, Mesa co. (Rockwell), San Juan 
co. (Drew) and La Plata co. (Morrison) ; stragglers to the plains have 
been noticed at Fort Collins in November (Breninger), and at Fort 
Lyon by Captain Thorne (Cooke). 
Habits.—As its name implies this bird is chiefly found 
in the pine woods, and except during the breeding season 
is generally in flocks or small parties; it feeds chiefly 
on the buds and seeds of the pines as well as on those 
of the birch and alder, and perhaps a few berries and 
insects, especially in the breeding season. It has a 
clear, sweet, flowing song, something like that of the 
Purple Finch. It nests in July near timber line at 
11,000 feet, according to Mrs. Stone, but information 
in regard to its breeding habits is very scanty. 
Genus CARPODACUS. 
Moderate-sized birds—wings under 4:0, with a moderately 
developed, slightly swollen bill; the culmen either straight or curved, 
and the mandibles of approximately equal depth; nostrils hardly 
concealed by the forwardly growing bristles; wings long and pointed ; 
tail rather short or moderate, from -62 to -77 of the wing, slightly 
emarginate to nearly square ; plumage of the males with crimson, of 
the females stripy brown. 
A large genus with a number of species distributed over the temperate 
regions of Europe, Asia and North America. Two species commonly 
occur in Colorado, while a third, the eastern Purple Finch, is a straggler. 
