80 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



Record of specimens collected of Carpodacus cassini. 



[No. 7. 



Col- 

 lector's 

 No. 



Sex. 



Locality. 



Date. 



Collector. 



Hem arks. 



137 



7 

 420 

 432 



d im. 



d 

 d im. 



d 



$ im. 

 d Ini. 

 d im. 



White Mountains, Calif 



do 



Sierra Nevada, Calif 



do 



.do . 

 .do . 



.do 



-do 



July 7,1891 

 ....do 



July 22, 1891 

 Aug. 11, 1891 



June 19, 1891 



June 23, 1891 

 Au"-. 24, 1891 

 Aug. 30. 1891 

 Aug. 1,1891 



E. W. Nelson. 

 ....do 



F. Stephens .. 

 T. S. Palmer.. 



B. EL Dutcher 



....do 



A.K.Fisher.. 

 ....do 



V. Bailey 



Horse Corral Mead- 

 ows. 

 Big Cottonwood 

 Meadows. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Whitney Meadows. 

 East Fork of Kaw- 

 eah Biver, Calif. 



Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis. House Finch. 



The house finch was found wherever water was present in all locali- 

 ties visited by the expedition, except in the higher mountains among 

 the pines, and undoubtedly bred wherever found. There was no other 

 species of bird, with the possible exception of the dove, whose presence 

 was so indicative of the nearness of water as the one under considera- 

 tion. The writer never saw it more than a few hundred yards from 

 water, except when flying high overhead. 



After leaving Daggett on the Mohave Desert, Calif., house finches 

 were seen at all the springs or water holes on the road to Death Valley. 

 At Granite Wells flocks were found about the water at all times of 

 day. In Death Valley a few were seen at Bennett Wells and between 

 that place and Furnace Creek during the latter part of January. Dr. 

 Merriam saw it at the latter place about the middle of April, and Mr. 

 Bailey and the writer found it at both places on their last trip to the 

 valley, June 19-22. 



In the Panamint Mountains it was abundant in Johnson, Surprise, 

 and Emigrant canons, in April; at Willow Creek and Cottonwood 

 Creek, in May; and in Wild Rose and Death Valley canons, in June. 

 In the Argus Eange, the species was very abundant in Shepherd Caiion 

 and at Maturango Spring, where it bred commonly, as it did in the 

 Panamint Mountains. 



As many as a dozen nests were found from April 25 to May 1, in 

 various situations. A few were placed in crevices in the rocky sides 

 of the canon, while the majority were in bushes on the sloping hillsides, 

 from one to several feet above the ground. The nests among the rocks 

 were more compact, as they contained a larger amount of lining than 

 those in the bushes, which in many cases were very loosely put together. 

 The full complement of eggs in the different nests was four, five, and 

 six. The species was common in the Coso, Inyo, and White mountains. 

 It was everywhere common in Owens Valley from the lower to the upper 

 part. In this valley, both at Independence and Lone Pine, the species 

 was found to be very destructive to the ripened peaches during the 

 middle of August. Flocks of birds occurred in the orchards,, and in some. 



