THE PINE FINCH ( SPIN US PINUS) BREEDING AT 
CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N. Y. 
BY J. A. ALLEN. 
On April 20. 1887, I went to Cornwall-on-Hudson, Orange 
Co., N. Y., where I remained till May 12, making my home at 
the residence of Mr. Daniel Taft. The house is in the midst of 
a lawn of several acres in extent, well set with fruit and shade 
trees, overlooking the Hudson. 
On the day of my arrival a small flock of Pine Finches, busily 
hunting food in the pines . and spruces, attracted my attention, 
but as the season was late and the weather still cold it was not, 
of course, a noteworthy occurrence. They continued to haunt 
the vicinity for several days, when all disappeared except a sin- 
gle pair. On the morning of May 3, I was surprised to see one 
of the birds gathering material for a nest. She was easily traced 
to the lower branch of a Norway pine, scarcely thirty feet from 
the piazza, and almost within reach of a little summer house 
overrun with a wisteria vine. The site chosen for the nest was 
the extremity of the branch, about eight or ten feet from the 
ground, and well concealed. Several times the little builder 
carried material to the nest while I was sitting in the arbor, al- 
most within reach of it. Although I afterward carefully kept 
away, the birds seemed not fully satisfied with the exposed situ- 
1SS7.] Allen, Nesting of the Pine Finch in Southern New York. 28 $ 
ation, and after the second day I noticed that nothing seemed to be 
added to the structure, and my fears that they had abandoned it 
proved true. Still the birds were about, and the female was 
often observed with bits of nest-material in her bill, A little 
patient watching disclosed the fact that a new nesting-site had 
been chosen, — this time the extremity of an upper branch of a 
neighboring Norway pine, about thirty-five feet from the ground, 
and about the same distance from the much frequented piazza of 
the house. As it was on the side of the tree toward the house, 
and nearly on a level with the windows of my room, I had a fine 
opportunity of watching the industrious little architects, although 
the nest itself was completely hidden from view by the dense 
pine needles in which it was placed. 
One of the birds, presumably the female, did all the work, 
but was escorted to and from the nest by the male, who further 
manifested his interest and joy by a profusion of Canary-like 
t-xee-e-ts and other peculiarly sweet and pleasing notes. Later 
the birds were more silent and much less frequently seen ; — 
it was evident that incubation had begun. Here was certainly a 
prize, which, in view of all the circumstances, it seemed hardly 
right to ignore ; for the nests and eggs of the Pine Finch are by 
no means easy to discover, are still rare in collections, and the 
breeding of the species so far south of its usual summer home a 
noteworthy event ; yet it required no slight struggle with tender 
feelings to decide to break up the happy home, even in behalf 
of science, and of the museum whose ornithological interests I 
may be supposed to have deeply at heart. 
On May 12 I enlisted the services of my young nephew, R. T. 
Swezey, who kindly ascended to the nest on a. tour of observation, 
finding, as was anticipated, a full clutch and the female sitting. 
She remained on the nest till his hand touched the branch on 
which the nest rested, when she flew off with a great outcry and 
dashed frantically about for some seconds, passing and repassing 
within a few yards of the nest, uttering such plaintive notes of 
distress as to make the, task of securing the prize indeed a sad 
one. The nest was placed at the base of a bunch of cones within 
a few inches of the extremity of the branch, and being thorough- 
ly shielded on all sides by the strongly resisting, long, sharp 
needles, it was no easy matter to reach out to the nest and, in- 
serting the hand, safely remove the coveted treasures. The four 
