698 
.BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
BROWN-CAPPED ROSY FINCH: Leucosticte austrdlis Ridgway 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 5.7-6.5 inches, wing 4-4.4, tail 2.4-2.9, 
bill .4-.5. Female: Length (skins) 5.6-6.1 inches, wing 3.9-4.2, tail 2.4-2.7, bill 
.4-.5. Adult male in summer : 1 Top of head dark grayish brown , becoming blackish 
on forehead , rest of head and fore parts of body cinnamon or russet-brown, often flecked 
with bright red below; hind neck, back, and scapulars similar but duller, with dusky 
shaft-streaks, feathers of rump and upper tail coverts broadly and abruptly tipped 
with peach-blossom pink , grayish brown underneath; wings and tail dusky, with 
pinkish edgings, the wing coverts broadly edged with peach-blossom pink, sometimes 
almost scarlet in midsummer; sides, flanks, and belly mostly carmine-pink, the 
feathers grayish below the surface; under tail coverts dusky centrally, broadly 
edged with pink and white. Adult male in winter: Similar to summer male but 
forehead and crown with grayish brown feather edgings, sides and back of head 
gray with dusky feather centers, back and scapulars with buffy brown feather 
margins, anterior underparts with buffy margins, and pink areas softer, more rose 
pink; bill yellowish instead of black, tipped with dusky. Iinmature male: Like 
adult male but greater wing coverts edged with buffy in winter or dull whitish in 
summer. Adult female: With same seasonal changes as adult male, but much 
duller—underparts wood-brown, upperparts grayish brown, and pink markings 
indistinct. Young: Plain grayish buffy brown, paler on posterior underparts; 
wing and tail coverts edged with buffy. 
Range. —Breeds in Alpine Zone of mountains of Colorado and probably northern 
New Mexico; winters mostly in valleys of Colorado and New Mexico. 
State Records. —The Brown-capped Rosy Finch for more than 30 years has 
had a place in the list of New Mexico birds, but the record on which such inclusion 
was based proves to belong to Colorado. There was no real record for New Mexico 
until the birds were found July 20-30, 1904, on the crest of the Taos Mountains 
near Wheeler Peak at over 13,000 feet altitude (Bailey, 1905, p. 317). Several 
were seen and two collected; they presumably nested not far away. [On November 
29, 1926, a mixed flock of 300 leucostictes was seen some twelve miles northwest of 
Vcrmejo Park, Colfax County, at about 10,500 feet, and specimens of the Brown- 
capped and two other species were collected (Ligon).] As the species is not known 
to occur farther south in winter, the birds probably spend the entire year in these 
mountains.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —(Described by F. C. Lincoln, Auk, XXXIII, 41-42, 1916.) In a 
cavity of a cliff, compactly woven of dry grass and flower stems with a quantity 
of fine moss, lined with fine grass, a few of the bird’s own feathers, and one of the 
White-tailed Ptarmigan. Eggs: 3, white. 
General Habits.— When we were following the crest of the Taos 
Mountains near Wheeler Peak, at about 13,500 feet, a bird passed 
overhead which, from its call, its undulating flight, and notched tail, 
Mr. Bailey pronounced a Rosy Finch. On our second ascent of the 
mountains the wind was blowing a gale over the peaks and no birds 
were seen. But later, on a peak east of Wheeler, at about 13,400 feet, 
Mr. Bailey heard the chirping of Rosy Finches in a cloud that was 
enveloping the mountains, and soon about half a dozen of the birds 
1 In very fresh plumage, the pattern of the Kray shown in the Gray-capped Rosy Finch is suggested 
but the feathers are dark brownish gray centrally, edged with lighter brownish gray, giving a scaled 
effect (Ridgway). 
