FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC.: PINE SISKIN 
701 
again until November (Birtwcll); and Camp Burgwyn, where one was seen as late 
as May 26, 1859 (Anderson). [At Lake Burford in 1918 it was noted May 26 
and 28, and June 16 (Wetmore).] Another June record comes from the Zuni 
Mountains, where on June 23, 1909, a small flock was seen at 9,000 feet on. Mount 
Sedgwick (Goldman). Toward the latter part of July, they become more numer¬ 
ous, and the last week of that month in 1903 they were common at 11,000 feet 
on Pecos Baldy, and on August 17, at 10,400 feet, young were seen calling for 
the old birds to feed them. During this trip the birds were noted from 7,500 to 
11,600 feet (Bailey). The next year, from July 20 to August 2, they were common 
at 11,400 feet in the Wheeler Peak amphitheater of the Taos Mountains (Bailey). 
Several flocks were seen July 23-August 1, 1909, at Cloudcroft, 9,000 feet (Green). 
In the Jemez Mountains, in 1906, they were common in the lower part of the 
Santa Clara Canyon at about 7,000 feet late in August, and here on August 22 an 
old bird was seen feeding two young (Bailey). At Arroyo Seco it has been found 
as high as 8,000 feet (Surber), and it undoubtedly occurs much higher. 
During September and October it is distributed over the State, the above men¬ 
tioned places, with the addition of Las Vegas (Batchelder) and the Capitan Moun¬ 
tains (Gaut), representing the most eastern extension of the range in New Mexico. 
It remains in the State throughout the winter, and at this season comes down 
into the valleys even to Fort Thorn at 4,000 feet, though “very abundant, both 
in the river valley and in the mountains” (Henry, 1859).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Usually in conifers, well built and compact, made variously of dry 
roots, grass, and leaves, lined with hair; or of fine twigs, bark, moss, rootlets, and 
plant fibers, lined with fine rootlets, moss, fur, and hair. Eggs: Generally 3 or 4, 
light greenish blue, spotted, blotched, and speckled, chiefly around the larger end, 
with brown and lavender, usually with a few small black markings. 
Food. —Mainly seeds of weeds and other wild plants, conifers, birch, and alder; 
but also weevils, caterpillars, plant lice, and scale insects. Two California stomachs 
contained 1,900 black olive scales and 300 plant lice (Henshaw). A flock of 100 
were seen feeding on saw-fly grubs from oak-leaf galls (Bassett). The evidence 
is strongly in the Siskin's favor. Buds arc occasionally eaten locally, but the 
vegetable food appears to be largely seeds of weeds and other noncultivated plants. 
In its destruction of aphids, scale insects, and caterpillars the bird renders such 
valuable service as to entitle it to high economic rank (Gabrielson). 
General Habits. —At our Lake Burford camp on a bright morning 
after a rainy day, we were pleased to find a passing flock of the delight¬ 
ful little streaked Siskins stopping in our cottonwoods, and enjoyed 
watching them as they bathed in the rain pools and sang and disported 
themselves as if appreciating the bright sunshine. Such a variety of 
seeds are eaten by these erratic wanderers that they are found among 
one set of plants or trees one day and an entirely different set the next. 
In Santa Clara Canyon, where we found them common, yellow pines 
were in the bottom and nut pines and junipers on the south slope, 
and it was on the south juniper slope that an old bird was feeding her 
two late young, their wings going amusingly like windmill sails at their 
sides during the process. A week later, in the spruces and poplars of 
the canyon, one of the Finches was feeding on a yellow composite 
abundant there at the time. 
