694 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
that are exactly alike. Different individuals will sing slightly differ¬ 
ently, and the same bird will vary his song from time to time, but 
the song always has the same basic structure, is rather consistently 
given in 6/8 time, and all of the songs share the same general quality/ 7 
(1928, pp. 18-19). 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PINE GROSBEAK: Pinicola enucleator montana Ridgway 
Description.— Male: Length (skins) 8-8.5 inches, wing 4.7-4.9, tail 3.7-4, bill 
.6-7. Female: Length (skins) 8-8.3 inches, wing 4.6-4.7, tail 3.5. Bill short and 
thick, upper mandible strongly convex, tip hooked; black nasal plumules hiding 
nostrils; tail long, emarginate. Adult male: General color dark carmine , brightest on 
head and rump, feathers grayish beneath the surface , more or less exposed , especially on 
chest; feathers of back with dusky centers, tail and wings dusky with light edgings 
(sometimes tinged with red), unrigs with two while bands (sometimes tinged with red); 
sides and posterior underparts gray, under tail coverts broadly margined with white. 
Adult female: General color smoke-gray, bright yellowish olive, tawny-olive, or russet 
on head and rump, sometimes tinging back and anterior underparts. Young in 
juvenal plumage: Like adult female but less strongly tinged with yellowish, wing 
markings dull buffy, texture of plumage different. Immature fiiale; Like female but 
head and rump with reddish tone, suggesting approach to plumage of adult male 
(Chapman). 
Remarks. —The plumage of the male is extremely variable in tint, and the red 
is continuous only in highly plumaged specimens (Coues). 
Range. —Breeds on Boreal summits of Rocky Mountains from British Columbia, 
Alberta, Montana (rarely), and Idaho to New Mexico; winters east of Cascades 
in British Columbia (probably), and in Montana and Colorado. 
State Records. —The Rocky Mountain Pine Grosbeak finds its most southern 
extension in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Here it was noted July 23, 
1903, at 11,000 feet, below Pecos Baldy; it was seen again on August 15 at 11,600 
feet; and on August 14, a family party was found at 12,000 feet near the Truchas 
Lakes at the head of the Pecos River. The next year, in the Taos Mountains, it 
was noted August 5-6, at 10,700 feet; and in the Culebra Mountains was collected 
August 20, at 11,200 feet (Bailey). 
Information is lacking as to the exact limits of the actual breeding range of the 
species. It has been noted in Colorado up to timberline in the summer and down 
to 9,000 feet in the winter, while in New Mexico it ranges from the upper limit of 
timber down to 10,000 feet. Since it nests rather early—young out of the nest 
have been noted in June—it is probable that most of the nests are located at the 
lower altitudes, 10,000-10,500 feet, and that the birds move upward as soon as the 
young are fully fledged. 
Two of the most southern localities in North America for any subspecies are 
the Jemez Mountains, where one of the Rocky Mountain birds was seen August 
29, 1906, at 10,000 feet, near the head of Santa Clara Canyon (Bailey) ;and Kingston, 
where two were taken November 12, 1904 (Metcalfe). The center of abundance 
in New Mexico seems to be in the upper part of the Red River Valley and about 
Twining. This subspecies is probably largely non-migratory except for a slight 
vertical movement. [On June 27, 1922, a male and female were seen by Jensen 
in a large spruce at 12,000 feet on Lake Peak in the Sangre de Cristos. On June 
20, 1924, several were seen by Ligon at about 10,500 feet on Red River, northeast 
of Wheeler Peak and one was taken. They were doubtless breeders, as only males 
