FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: HOUSE FINCH 
691 
early that even at 8,000 feet near Halls Peak they appeared on February 14, 1895 
(Barber), and were common by the first of March.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In saltbush, sagebrush, mountain mahogany, cane cactus, on branches 
and in cavities in trees in the open, often in nooks and crannies about buildings and 
even in bird boxes; shallow, cup shaped, woven largely of dried grass stems and 
plant fibers, and also, according to location, leaves, rootlets, twigs, hair, string, 
and wool. Eggs: 3 to 6, bluish white or pale greenish blue, dotted, blotched, and 
lined chiefly around the larger end, with black or brown. 
Food. —Vegetable, 97.56 per cent; animal, 2.44 per cent. The animal is mainly 
plant lice, but alfalfa weevils are also eaten; the vegetable food consists of grain, 
fruit, and weed seeds. The grain is negligible—less than one-fourth of 1 per cent— 
and fruit is only 10 per cent for the year, while weed seed amounts to 86 per cent 
for the year. Mistletoe berries are also eaten. In a fruit country the earliest 
varieties are the ones most affected and in small orchards sometimes the whole 
crop is destroyed, but in large orchards the damage is not perceptible, while the 
destruction of weed seed including sunflower, dandelion, and Russian thistle seed 
is a material benefit. Where appreciable damage is done to fruit, mulberry trees 
and servicebcrry bushes planted inside the orchards and around their edges might 
afford protection. 
General Habits. —The pretty, pink-breasted House Finch, 
depicted by Major Brooks as singing cheerily over a house top, is well 
named, for it is not only a friendly little songster, sure of its welcome, 
but also a thirsty one, ready to appreciate drinking and bathing facilities 
offered at houses. A simple bowl of water or “an old Indian mortar 
under a dripping faucet” will keep it comfortable and attract many 
other thirsty little neighbors, whose social relations and individual 
habits will afford much amusement and enjoyment to the lookers-on. 
The delights of “a garden well supplied with water in a dry country’’ 
have been entertainingly suggested by the bird lover, Mr. Joseph 
Mailliard, who turned a dreary convalescence into a period of special 
privilege by calling his small neighbors around him (1906, pp. 45-50). 
But away from towns and villages, houses are not always conveniently 
at hand, and the traveler over long uninhabited stretches, unless 
supplied with a water barrel, must keep a sharp lookout for water or 
make a dry camp. Then the sight of one of the pink-breasted House 
Finches is a welcome one, for, as Mr. Bailey has said, it is “one of the 
best guides to springs and water holes in this arid region.” In the 
canyons, near the Carlsbad caves, he found that its nests among the 
dry leaves of tall yuccas or inside old Oriole nests were generally an 
indication of springs or rainwater holes in the rocks (1928a, p. 155). 
Between the Staked Plains and the Canadian River, in June, 1903, 
the bright songs often greeted us along the way and the nests were 
frequently seen in the thorny bushes of the cane cactus (Opuntia 
arborescens ). One was in a blooming cactus whose beautiful big 
magenta flowers toned well with the pretty bird’s own rosy throat. 
In another nest, wool was conspicuous in the lining. Still another of 
