Chapter IV: Part 4

A formal song of the Western Meadowlark comprises from four to a dozen notes, usually six or seven. The song phrases vary endlessly in detail, yet certain types are clearly distinguishable, types which reappear in different parts of the country, apparently without regard to local traditions or suppositional schools of song. Thus a Chelan singer says, “_Oku wheel′er, ku wheel′er_”, and he may not have a rival in a hundred miles; yet another bird on the University campus in Seattle sings, _Eh heu, wheel′iky, wheel′iky_, or even _Eh heu wheel′iky, wheel′iky, wheel′iky_, and you recognize it instantly as belonging to the same type. In like manner _Owy′hee, rec′itative_ was heard with perfect distinctness both at Wallula and in Okanogan County.

Each bird has a characteristic song-phrase by which he may be recognized and traced thru a season, or thru succeeding years. One boisterous spirit in Chelan I shall never forget for he insisted on shouting, hour after hour, and day after day, “_Hip! Hip! Hurrah! boys; three cheers!_” Yet, while this is true, no bird is confined to one style of song. An autumnal soloist in Ravenna Park rendered no less than six distinct songs or song-phrases in a rehearsal lasting five minutes. He gave them without regard to sequence, now repeating the same phrase several times in succession, now hurrying on to new forms, pausing only after each utterance for breath.

Nor is the effort of the Western Meadowlark confined to the formal song for he often pours out a flood of warbling, chattering and gurgling notes which at close range are very attractive. Not infrequently he will interrupt one of these meditative rhapsodies with the clarion call, and return immediately to his minor theme.

In the presence of a stranger the lark serves frequent notice of intended departure in a vigorous _toop_, or _toob_, accompanying the sound with an emphatic flirt of the wings and jerk of the tail. Now and then the actual departure is accompanied by a beautiful yodelling song. After several preliminary _toobs_ the bird launches himself with fantastic exaggeration of effort and rolls out, _O′ly o′ly o′ly o′ly o′ly_, with ravishing sweetness.

At nesting time the parent birds have many causes for apprehension, and as they move about in search of food they give vent to the _toob_ note of distrust in a fashion which soon becomes chronic. In Douglas County this note is doubled, _two′ bit_, or _two′ whit_, and one cannot recall the varied life of the sage in June without hearing as an undertone the half melancholy _two′ bit_ of a mother Meadowlark as she works her way homeward by fearful stages.

At nesting time the Western Meadowlark enjoys a wide distribution in Washington. It is found not only on all grassy lowlands and in cultivated sections but in the open sage as well and upon the half-open pine-clad foothills up to an altitude of four thousand feet.

The Meadowlark is an assiduous nester. This not because of any unusual amativeness but because young Meadowlarks are the _morceaux délicieux_ of all the powers that prey, skunks, weasels, mink, raccoons, coyotes, snakes, magpies, crows. Hawks and owls otherwise blameless in the bird-world err here—the game is too easy. Even the noble Peregrine does not disdain this humble, albeit toothsome, quarry, and the Least Falcon (_Falco sparverius phalæna_) will stoop for a young Meadowlark when all other avian offerings are virtuously passed by.

Fecundity then is the only recourse,—this, and concealment. Not relying altogether upon its marvelous protective coloration the lark exhibits great caution in approaching, and, if possible, in quitting its nest. In either case it sneaks along the ground for a considerable distance, threading the mazes of the grass so artfully that the human eye can follow with difficulty or not at all. At the approach of danger a sitting bird may either steal from her nest unobserved and rise at a safe distance or else seek to further her deception by feigning lameness after the fashion of the Shore-birds. Or, again, she may cling to her charge in desperation hoping against hope till the last possible moment and taking chances of final mishap. In this way a friend of mine once discovered a brooding Meadowlark imprisoned underneath his boot—fortunately without damage for she occupied the deep depression of a cow-track.

To further concealment the grass-lined depression in which the Meadowlark places her four or five speckled eggs is almost invariably over-arched with dried grasses. This renders the eggs practically invisible from above, and especially if the nest is placed in thick grass or rank herbage, as is customary. Touching instances of blind devotion to this arch tradition were, however, afforded by a sheep-swept pasture near Adrian. Here the salt-grass was cropped close and the very sage was gnawed to stubs. But the Meadowlarks, true to custom, had imported long, dried grasses with which to over-arch their nests. As a result one had only to look for knobs on the landscape. By eye alone we located six of these pathetic landmarks in the course of a half-hour’s stroll.

One brood is usually brought off by May 1st and another by the middle of June. Altho Meadowlarks are classed as altricial, i. e. having young helpless when hatched and which require to be nurtured in the nest, the young Meadowlarks are actually very precocious and scatter from the nest four or five days after hatching, even before they are able to fairly stand erect. This arrangement lessens the chances of wholesale destruction but it would appear to complicate the problem from the parental standpoint. How would you, for instance, like to tend five babies, each in a separate thicket in a trackless forest, and that haunted by cougars, and lynxes, and boa-constrictors and things?

We cannot afford to be indifferent spectators to this early struggle for existence, for it is difficult to overestimate the economic value of the Meadowlark. The bird is by choice almost exclusively insectivorous. If, however, when hard pressed, he does take toll of the fallen wheat or alfalfa seed, he is as easily justifiable as is the hired man who consumes the farmer’s biscuits that he may have the strength to wield the hoe against the farmer’s weeds. Being provided with a long and sensitive bill, the Meadowlark not only gleans its insect prey from the surface of the ground, but works among the grass roots, and actually probes the earth in its search for wire- and cut-worms, those most dreaded pests. Besides devouring injurious grubs and insects of many kinds, the Lark has a great fondness for grasshoppers, subsisting almost entirely upon these in the season of their greatest abundance. In the matter of grasshopper consumption alone Meadowlarks of average distribution, are estimated by no less an authority than Professor Beal, to be worth about twenty-four dollars per month, per township, in saving the hay crop. To the individual farmer this may seem a small matter, but in the aggregate the saving to the nation amounts to some hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Even in winter, when a few individuals or occasional companies of Larks are still to be found, a large proportion of their food consists of hardy beetles and other insects, while weed-seed and scattering grain is laid under tribute, as it were, reluctantly.

It goes without saying that we cannot regard this bird as lawful game. We exempt the horse from slaughter not because its flesh is unfit for food—it is really very sapid—but because the animal has endeared itself to our race by generations of faithful service. We place the horse in another category, that of animal friend. And the human race, the best of it, has some time since discovered compunctions about eating its friends. Make friends with this bonny bird, the Meadowlark, and you will be ashamed thenceforth to even discuss assassination. Fricassee of prima donna! Voice of morning _en brochette_! Bird-of-merry-cheer on toast! Faugh! And yet that sort of thing passed muster a generation ago—does yet in the darker parts of Europe!

_Fringillidæ_—The Finches

No. 23.
WESTERN EVENING GROSBEAK.

A. O. U. No. 514a. Hesperiphona vespertina montana Ridgway.

Description.—_Adult male_: Forehead and superciliaries gamboge yellow;
feathers about base of bill, lores, and crown black; wings black with
large white patch formed by tips of inner secondaries and tertials;
tail black; remaining plumage sooty olive brown about head and neck,
shading thru olive and olive-green to yellow on wing and under
tail-coverts. Bill bluish horn-color and citron yellow; feet brownish.
_Adult female_: General color deep smoky brownish gray or buffy brown,
darker on the head, lighter on wings, lighter, more buffy, on sides,
shading to dull whitish on throat and abdomen, tinged with yellowish
green on hind-neck, clearing to light yellow on axillars and under
wing-coverts; a small clear white patch at base of inner primaries;
white blotches on tips of upper tail-coverts and inner webs of
tail-feathers in varying proportions. Length about 8.00 (203.2); wing
4.39 (111.5); tail 2.42 (61.4); bill .82 (20.8); depth at base .62
(15.9); tarsus. 81 (20.3). Female very slightly smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; olive-brown coloration with black and
white in masses on wings; large, conical beak distinctive;
high-pitched call note.

Nesting.—Has not yet been found breeding in Washington but undoubtedly
does so. _Nest_ (as reported from New Mexico): principally composed of
fine rootlets with some Usnea moss and a few sticks, settled upon
horizontal branches of pine or fir, near tip, and at considerable
heights; in loose colonies. _Eggs_: 4, “in color, size, form, and
texture indistinguishable from those of the Red-winged Blackbird”
(Birtwell).

General Range.—Western United States and Northern Mexico; east to and
including Rocky Mountains; north to British Columbia.

Range in Washington.—Co-extensive with evergreen timber and appearing
irregularly elsewhere. Resident within State but roving locally.
Winters regularly in parks of the larger cities.

Authorities.—? _Fringilla vespertina_ Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci.
Phila. VIII. 1839, 154 (Columbia R.). _Hesperiphona vespertina_ Baird,
Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 409. T. C&S. Ra. Kk. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

Sparrows are also called Cone-bills; it is, therefore, fair that the bird with the biggest cone should take precedence in a family history. But for this primacy there are damaging limitations. The Grosbeak is neither the most beautiful nor the most tuneful of the Fringillidæ, if he is by common consent rated the oddest. His garb is a patchwork; his song a series of shrieks; his motions eccentric; his humor phlegmatic; and his concepts beyond the ken of man. Altho at times one of the most approachable of birds, he is, on the whole, an avian freak, a rebus in feathers.

Perhaps we make too much of a mystery of him, just as we rate the owl highest in wisdom for the single discretion of silence, which any dunderhead may attain. But now take this group in the park; just what are they at? They sit there stolidly in the rowan tree where all the passersby may take note of them, giving vent ever and anon to explosive yelps, but _doing nothing_ by the hour, until an insane impulse seizes one of their number to be off to some other scene no better, be it near or far, and the rest yield shrieking consent by default of alternative idea. It is all so unreasonable, so uncanny, that it irritates us.

Evening Grosbeaks are semi-gregarious the year around, but are seen to best advantage in winter or early spring, when they flock closely and visit city parks or wooded lawns. One is oftenest attracted to their temporary quarters by the startling and disconnected noises which are flung out broadcast. It may be that the flock is absorbed in the depths of a small fir, so that one may come up near enough to analyze the sound. Three sorts of notes are plainly distinguishable: a low murmuring of pure tones, quite pleasant to the ear; a harsh but subdued rattle, or alarm note, _wzzzt_ or _wzzzp_, familiarly similar to that of the Crossbill; and the high-pitched shriek, which distinguishes the bird from all others, _dimp_. A little attention brings to light the fact that all the birds in the flock bring out this astonishing note at _precisely the same pitch_. Once distinguished, this note will serve again and again to draw attention to this uncanny fowl, as it passes overhead or loses itself in the bosom of some giant conifer.

It is not a little surprising at first thought, that the habits of these birds are best known in our larger cities, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Portland. Why they should be especially attracted to them, it is hard to say, unless it be that they love the din of urban life, which they help so valiantly to promote. But it is easy to see why they are more noticeable there; for their showy and patchy coloration marks them as distinguished visitors in town, whereas in the forest their colors so melt into and harmonize with their surroundings that it is difficult to follow their movements.

These Grosbeaks, or New World Hawfinches, are not to be commended as horticulturists. In winter they feed largely upon the ground, gleaning fallen seeds and fruits; and are especially fond of the winged key of the large-leafed maple (_Acer macrophyllum_). They drop down to such a feast one by one from the branches above, and it is amusing to note how the loud cracking of seeds is interspersed with music. A little later the birds devote themselves to swelling buds, and here too the maple is a favorite; tho ash, alder, flowering currant, and a dozen more are not disdained. The damage done is not considerable; for the birds, viewed in the large, are not numerous enough, all told, to be taken seriously; but viewed in the concrete, the snip, snip, of those mandibles in the lilac bushes is no idle joy.

It may be that the key of high C sharp, or whatever it be, _staccato con moto_, is the accepted love note, and that the green-liveried swain hurls declarations at his enamorata, like Samson in Handel’s oratorio, the live-long year. Anyway, his exertions are redoubled in early June, and he charges about in a reckless frenzy which should make the city gape. June, 1906, was memorable to us for the abundance of these Grosbeaks in the vicinity of Spokane. The very air of Cannon Hill and Hangman’s Creek seemed charged with expectation of Grosbeaks’ nests. But they were not for us. Nor has the nest yet been taken in Washington.

No. 24.
ALASKAN PINE GROSBEAK.

A. O. U. No. 515c. Pinicola enucleator alascensis Ridgway.

Synonym.—Pine Bullfinch.

Description.—_Adult male_: In highest plumage rosy red (poppy red);
back with dusky centers of feathers; lower belly and under
tail-coverts ashy gray—this high plumage is the exception; in general
the rosy gives place to ashy gray in varying proportions; wings and
tail ashy dusky; tips of middle and greater coverts and outer edges of
exposed tertials white (or rosy). Bill dusky; feet blackish. _Adult
female_: Similar to male but rosy replaced by dingy yellow (varying
from olive-yellow, olive-tawny and ochraceous to bricky red) and
chiefly confined to head, hind-neck and upper tail-coverts (where
brightest); feathers of back frequently tipped with ochraceous and
breast with an ochrey wash. Length about 8.60 (218.4); wing 4.60
(117); tail 3.66 (93); bill .57 (14.5); tarsus .89 (22.7).

Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; large, rounded conical beak; red and
gray coloration for size distinctive.

Nesting.—“_Nest_, composed of a basement of twigs and rootlets within
which is a more compact fabric of finer materials. _Eggs_, usually 4,
pale greenish blue, spotted and blotched with dark brown surface
markings and lilac shell-spots.” Av. size 1.05 × .74 (26.7 × 18.8).
_Season_: About June 1st; one brood.

General Range.—“Northwestern North America, except Pacific Coast,
breeding in interior of Alaska; south, in winter, to eastern British
Columbia, Montana (Bitterroot Valley), etc.” (Ridgway).

Range in Washington.—Reported by Allan Brooks as breeding in the Mt.
Baker district (as below); should occur upon the timbered lowlands in
winter.

Authorities.—Allan Brooks _in epist._ Dawson, Auk Vol. XXV. Oct. 1908,
p. 482.

Specimens.—Prov.

This large and handsome Finch is of very irregular occurrence in southern British Columbia excepting the higher mountain ranges, where it breeds. During some winters it is present in large numbers, while in others, equally severe, none are seen. The species was very common throughout the winter of 1906-1907, a very severe one; but in that of 1901-1902, which was notably mild, Pine Grosbeaks were noticed in considerable numbers as far south as Penticton, 40 miles north of the international boundary, and they undoubtedly occurred much farther south.

Their food in the winter months is principally berries, but, strange to say, they altogether refuse those of the mountain ash, both the introduced and indigenous species. The former is the favorite food of the Eastern Pine Grosbeak thruout the winter in Ontario, but trees loaded with fruit were passed by at Okanagan Landing in the winter of 1906-1907, even after the birds had eaten all the rose hips and snow berries and were reduced to eating weed seeds with the _Leucostictes_.

Either this sub-species or _montana_ breeds on all the higher mountain ranges in British Columbia, occupying a zone from timber line downwards about 2,000 feet.

My first acquaintance with the Pine Grosbeak at its breeding grounds, was in the Cascade Mountains due north of Mt. Baker, on both sides of the Forty-ninth Parallel. Here the species was a somewhat sparing breeder close to timber line among the hemlock and balsam timber. They were feeding young on the 17th of July; at the same time Crossbills had fully grown young in flocks. No red males were seen, though many gray males were singing in the early mornings from the topmost spray of some balsam.

In the writer’s opinion the red plumage in the male is acquired at the first moult or immediately after the juvenal dress, and is usually only retained for one season; in some males a duller red dress is carried through the second summer, or more rarely a salmon-pink one; but in most cases the dress of the second summer is a gray one like the females, with yellow head and rump. Females may sometimes be seen with decidedly red heads and rumps,—from the size and shape of the bill these seem to be very old birds. The above remarks as to the red dress in the male apply also, in the writer’s experience, to the genera _Loxia_, _Carpodacus_ and _Acanthis_.

Allan Brooks.

No. 25.
AMERICAN CROSSBILL.

A. O. U. No. 521. Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm.).

Synonym.—Red Crossbill.

Description.—_Adult male_: Tips of mandibles crossed either way;
plumage red, brightest on rump; feathers of back with brownish
centers; wings and tail fuscous. Shade of red very variable,—orange,
cinnabar, even vermilion, sometimes toned down by a saffron suffusion.
_Immature males_ sometimes present a curiously mottled appearance with
chrome-green and red intermingled. _Female and young_: Dull
olive-green, brighter and more yellow on head and rump; below gray
overcast by dingy yellow. Adult male, length 5.50-6.25 (139.7-158.8);
wings 3.40 (86.4); tail 2.05 (52.1); bill .70 (17.8) or under.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; crossed mandibles; male red and
female olive-green; both _without_ white wing-bars.

“Nest: in forks or among twigs of tree, founded on a mass of twigs and
bark-strips, the inside felted of finer materials, including small
twigs, rootlets, grasses, hair, feathers, etc. _Eggs_: 3-4, 0.75 ×
0.57, pale greenish, spotted and dotted about larger end with dark
purplish brown, with lavender shell-markings” (Coues). Av. size, .85 ×
.53 (21.6 × 13.5) (Brewer). _Season_: erratic, Feb.-Oct.; one brood.

General Range.—Northern North America, resident sparingly south in the
eastern United States to Maryland and Tennessee, and in the
Alleghanies, irregularly abundant in winter. Of irregular distribution
thruout the coniferous forests of the West, save in southern
California, Arizona, and New Mexico, where replaced by _L. c.
stricklandi_.

Range in Washington.—Found thruout the coniferous forests of the
State; of irregular occurrence locally. Non-migratory but nomadic.

Authorities.—_Curvirostra americana_ Wils. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R.
Surv. IX. pt. II. 1858, 426 part, 427. T. C&S. L¹. D¹. Ra. D². J. B.
E.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. E. B.

When a bird’s pastures are the tree-tops it is possible for it to live a quite secluded life here in Washington. And, indeed, we know the Crossbill chiefly as a wandering voice or, rather, a vocal babel, passing from summit to summit in the grim fir forest. But on a rare day, it may be in Spokane, or it may be in Tacoma, the birds descend to human levels and are discovered feeding busily on their favorite pine cones. The birds are perfectly indifferent to equilibrium, and feed any side up without care. While thus engaged they may exhibit little fear of the beholder and sometimes venture within reach; but as often, for some whimsical reason they are up and away again as tho seized by evil spirits.

The Crossbill owes its peculiar mandibles to an age-long hankering for pine-seeds (using that word in the generic sense), a desire fully satisfied according to the fashion of that Providence which works so variously thru Nature, and whose method we are pleased to call evolution. The bill of the bird was not meant for an organ of prehension, and Buffon, the Deist, once won a cheap applause by railing at the Almighty for a supposed oversight in this direction; but as matter of fact, its wonderful crossed mandibles enable the Crossbill to do what no other bird can; viz., pry and cut open the scales of a fir cone, in order to extract the tiny seed with its tongue.

These birds are not entirely confined to a vegetable diet, for I once detected a group of them feeding industriously in a small elm tree which was infested with little gray insects, plant-lice or something of the sort. The presence of these insects, in colonies, caused the edges of the leaves to shrivel and curl tightly backward into a protective roll. Close attention showed that the Crossbills were feeding exclusively upon these aphides. They first slit open a leaf-roll with their scissor-bills, then extracted the insects with their tongues, taking care apparently to secure most of the members of each colony before passing to the next.

Crossbills also feed to some extent upon the ground, where they pick up fallen seeds and other tidbits. Mr. J. F. Galbraith, a ranger of the Washington Forest Reserve, first called my attention to another purpose which the birds have in visiting the ground. He had noticed how at certain places, and notably where dish-water was habitually thrown, the Crossbills were wont to congregate, and, turning the head sidewise, to thrust out the tongue along the bare ground in a most puzzling manner. Suspecting at last the real state of affairs, he sprinkled the ground with salt, and upon their return the birds licked it up with great avidity. Mr. Galbraith claims to have tried this experiment successfully upon numerous occasions. The birds do not appear to recognize the salt at first sight, but soon learn to resort to established salt-licks in open places. Rev. Fred M. McCreary also reports similar habits in connection with certain mineral springs in the Suiattle country. When we recall that the normal food of the Crossbill is pine-seeds, this craving for Nature’s solvent is readily understandable.

Crossbills give out an intermittent rattling cry, or excited titter, _tew, tew, tew_, while feeding. They have also a flight note which consists of a short, clear whistle; and a flock composed of separately undulating individuals affords a pleasing sensation to both eye and ear, as it rapidly passes. The male is said to have sprightly whistling notes of a most agreeable character, generically related to that of the Pine Grosbeak, or Purple Finch, but their exhibition must be rather rare.

After all, there is something a bit uncanny about these cross-billed creatures, and their eccentricities show nowhere in greater relief than in their nesting habits. The quasi migrations of the bird are determined by the local abundance of fir (or pine) cones. Like their food supply, the birds themselves may abound in a given section one year and be conspicuously absent the next. Moreover, because there is no choice of season in gathering the seed crop, the birds may nest whenever the whim seizes them; and this they do from January to July, or even October. The communal life is maintained in spite of the occasional defection of love-lorn couples; and there is nothing in the appearance of a flock of Crossbills in April to suggest that other such are dutifully nesting.

Mr. Bowles has never taken the eggs near Tacoma, altho he has encountered half a dozen of their nests in twelve years, the only occupied one of which we have record being found by a friend on the 25th of April, 1899. It contained three half-incubated eggs, and was placed in one of a group of small firs in the prairie country, at an elevation of some twenty feet. The nest rather closely resembles that of the California Purple Finch, but is more compactly built and much more heavily lined. It is composed of twigs and rootlets closely interwoven, and boasts an inner quilt of felted cow-hair nearly half an inch in thickness. The female Crossbill exhibits a singular devotion to duty, once confessed, and in this case the collector had actually to lift her from the eggs in order that he might examine them.

No. 26.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

A. O. U. No. 522. Loxia leucoptera Gmel.

Description.—_Male_: Rosy-red or carmine all over, save for grayish of
nape and black of scapulars, wings, and tail. The black of scapulars
sometimes meets on lower back. Two conspicuous white wing-bars are
formed by the tips of the middle and greater coverts. Bill slender and
weaker than in preceding species. _Female and young_: Light
olive-yellow, ochraceous, or even pale orange over gray, clearer on
rump, duller on throat and belly; most of the feathers with dusky
centers, finer on crown and throat, broader on back and breast; wings
and tail as in male, but fuscous rather than black; feather-edgings
olivaceous. Very variable. Length 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.50
(88.9); tail 2.25 (57.2); bill .67 (17).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; crossed bill; conspicuous white
wing-bars of both sexes.

Nesting.—_Nest_ has not yet been taken in Washington but bird
undoubtedly breeds here. “_Nest_: of twigs and strips of birch-bark,
covered exteriorly with moss (_Usnea_) and lined with soft moss and
hair, on the fork of an evergreen, in deep forests. _Eggs_: 3(?), pale
blue, spotted and streaked near larger end with reddish brown and
lilac, .80 × .55 (20.3 × 1.4.)” (Chamberlain). _Season_: Feb.-March.

General Range.—Northern parts of North America and southern Greenland,
south into the United States in winter. Resident in coniferous timber
thru the entire northern tier of states and irregularly south in the
mountains at least to Colorado. Casual in western Europe.

Range in Washington.—Several records of occurrences in northern
Cascade Mountains. Doubtless regular and resident.

Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XVII. Oct., 1901, p. 403. D².

Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. C. B.

To tell the truth, no one hereabouts appears to know much about the White-winged Crossbill. It is presumed to be common in the Cascade Mountains, but I have only thrice encountered it: once, May 15, 1891, in the mountains of Yakima County; again, July 23, 1900, on the slopes of Wright’s Peak near the head of Lake Chelan; and lastly, on the summit of Cascade Pass, June 25, 1906. There are no other records.[12] This species is quite as erratic as its more common cousin; and while it is, perhaps, more nearly confined to the mountains, it should be looked for wherever _C. minor_ occurs, and especially in flocks of the latter species.

Of the bird’s occurrence in Alaska, where it is much more abundant, Nelson says[13]: “It is more familiar than the Grosbeak [i. e., _Pinicola enucleator alascensis_], frequently coming low down among the smaller growth, and it is a common sight to see parties of them swinging about in every conceivable position from the twigs on the tops of the cottonwoods or birch trees, where the birds are busily engaged in feeding upon the buds. They pay no heed to a passing party of sleds, except, perhaps, that an individual will fly down to some convenient bush, where he curiously examines the strange procession, and, his curiosity satisfied or confidence restored, back he goes to his companions and continues feeding. When fired at they utter chirps of alarm and call to each other with a long, sweet note, something similar to that of the Goldfinch (_Spinus tristis_). They keep up a constant _cheeping_ repetition of this note when feeding in parties, and if one of their number is shot the others approach closer and closer to the hunter, and gaze with mingled curiosity and sympathy upon their fluttering companion.”

No. 27.
GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE.

A. O. U. No. 524. Leucosticte tephrocotis Swains.

Synonyms.—Rosy Finch. Swainson’s Rosy Finch.

Description.—_Adults_: Similar to _L. t. littoralis_ but ashy gray of
head restricted to sides of crown and occiput—in worn plumages black
of crown produced backward to meet brown of hind neck. Seasonal
changes as in succeeding. Size of next.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; warm brown plumage; ashy gray _not_
encroaching upon sides of head as distinguished from _L. t.
littoralis_.

Nesting.—Not known to breed in Washington. “_Nest_ made of strips of
bark and grass, built in a fissure of a rock at the side of a bunch of
grass” (Reed). _Eggs_: 4 or 5, white. _Season_: June; one brood.

General Range.—Imperfectly made out—probably discontinuous. Reported
breeding from such widely separated localities as the Rocky Mountains
of British America and the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains of
southern California; winters on the eastern slopes of the Rockies and
irregularly eastward to western Nebraska, Manitoba, etc., westward to
Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges (Camp Harvey, Ore. Pullman, Wash.
Chilliwhack, B. C.).

Range in Washington.—Probably of regular occurrence during migrations
and in winter east of the Cascade Mountains only.

Authorities.—_Not previously reported_; W. T. Shaw _in epistola_, Dec.
31, 1908.

Specimens.—Pullman.

Mountain climbing as an art is still in its infancy in the Northwest and altho the Mountaineers and the Mazamas are attacking the situation vigorously we have yet much to learn of the wild life upon our Washington sierras. But what problem could be more fascinating to a lover of birds and mountains than that of working out accurately the distribution of the Rosy Finches in America? They are the mountaineers _par excellence_, they are the Jebusites of the untaken citadels, and our ignorance of their ways will ere long become a reproach to our vaunted western enterprise. As it stands, however, only scanty crumbs of information have come to us concerning this most interesting and widely distributed race of Highlanders.

The Gray-crowned Leucosticte is considered the central figure of the genus, shading[14], as it does, into _L. atrata_ of the Bitterroots and _L. australis_ of Colorado, into _L. t. littoralis_ of southern British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, and (perhaps _thru littoralis_) into _griseonucha_ of the Aleutians. This assumes for the species a center of distribution in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan where the bird is known to occur. And so because of the greater severity of the winters in its normal haunts this form is found to be the greatest wanderer of its group, being frequently driven in the fall far out upon the central eastern plains or down the “inside passage” between the Rockies and Sierras.

It was in this fashion, probably, that a colony of this species became established in the southern Sierras of California, where it now maintains a vigorous existence separated, as we suppose, by at least a thousand miles from the parent stock in British Columbia.

No. 28.
HEPBURN’S LEUCOSTICTE.

A. O. U. No. 524a. Leucosticte tephrocotis littoralis (Baird).

Synonyms.—Rosy Finch. Hepburn’s Rosy Finch. Baird’s Rosy Finch.

Description.—_Adult male in summer_: Forehead and fore-crown black;
occiput, broadly, and sides of head, clear ashy gray, color sometimes
encroaching on chin and throat; nasal plumules grayish white;
remaining plumage in general chestnut, chocolate, or rich vandyke
brown, sharply contrasting with ashy gray on hind-neck and sides of
head, inclining to blackish on throat, streaked with dusky on back and
with more or less admixture of dusky on feather tips, especially on
wings and flanks; feathers of upper and under tail-coverts, rump and
flanks broadly and distinctly tipped with pink (of variable shade);
wings and tail blackish; lesser and middle coverts broadly tipped with
pink, the greater coverts, primary coverts and part of the flight
feathers edged with pink or light carmine; rectrices with more or less
edging of pinkish gray or light brown; bill black; feet and legs
black. _Adult female_: of somewhat paler and duller coloration.
_Adults in winter_: Feathers of back and scapulars edged with light
brown; pink edgings of wings, etc., paler, and body plumage,
especially on breast, with more or less pale skirting; bill yellow
with dusky tip (this character is assumed as early as September).
Length of adult male: 6.15 (156.2); wing 4.00 (101.6); tail 2.60 (66);
bill .45 (11.4); tarsus .75 (19).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; plumage warm brown with rosy
skirtings; ashy gray on _sides_ of head as distinguished from _L.
tephrocotis_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a thick mat of dried grasses placed in sheltered
crevice of rock at great altitude. _Eggs_: Not yet taken but doubtless
like those of _Leucosticte griseonucha_, viz., 4 or 5, pure white; av.
size .97 × .67 (24.6 × 17). _Season_: June; one brood.

General Range.—Summer haunts include the higher mountain ranges of
southeastern Alaska, British Columbia (west of the Rockies?) and
Washington (possibly Oregon as well); “in winter south to Nevada,
Utah, and Colorado, and east to eastern base of Rocky Mountains
(casually to Minnesota), and along the Pacific coast to Kodiak, Sitka,
Vancouver Island, etc.” (Ridgway).

Range in Washington.—Breeds thruout the higher Cascades (Wright’s
Peak, Sahale, Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, etc.) and, probably, the
Olympics. Retreats in winter to the lowlands, chiefly east of the
Cascade Mountains.

Authorities.—? J. K. Lord, Nat. in V. Id. & B. C. 1866, p. 154.
[“Hopburn’s (sic) rosy finch,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885),
22.] Dawson, Auk, XIV. 1897, 92, 177. J. E.

Specimens.—P. Prov. E. C.

Lives there a man so brutish that his heart does not kindle when he sees Rainier lit up with the ruddy glow of the evening sacrifice? If such there be, he is no bird-lover. Lives there a woman who can gaze upon the virgin snows of Kulshan, Shuksan, or Sahale, and not adore the emblem of eternal purity thereon displayed? If so, she will not appreciate the Leucosticte. This bird is the vestal virgin of the snows, the attendant minister of Nature’s loftiest altars, the guardian of the glacial sanctuaries.

One who loves the mountains cannot measure his praise nor bound his enthusiasm. Their sublimity bids him forget his limitations; and if one happens also to care for birds, it is matter of small justice to laud a bird whose devotion to the peaks appears as boundless as his own, besides knowing neither admixture of caution nor limitation of opportunity. Here is the patron saint of mountaineers! He alone of all creatures is at home on the heights, and he is not even dependent upon the scanty vegetation which follows the retreating snows, since he is able to wrest a living from the very glaciers. Abysses do not appall him, nor do the flower-strewn meadows of the lesser heights alienate his snow-centered affections.

Looking out on the chilly wilderness of snow-clad peaks which confronts Leucosticte on an early day in June, one wonders what the bird sees to justify the assumption of family cares. Save for a few dripping south exposures of inhospitable rock, there is nothing visible which affords promise of food unless it be the snow itself. And when one sees a little company of the finches moving about demurely upon the face of a choppy snowdrift, pecking at the surface here and there, he begins to harbor an uncanny suspicion that the birds do eat snow. Closer examination, however, shows that the surface of all snow-banks, not freshly covered, is sprinkled with insects,—midges, beetles, wasps, and the like—insects which the spring gales have swept up to uncongenial heights and dropped, benumbed or dead with cold. These battered waifs the Leucostictes gather with untiring patience, and they are thus able to subsist as no other species can, up to the very summits.

The eggs of the Hepburn Leucosticte have not to our knowledge yet been taken. Mr. D. E. Brown, then of Glacier, found these birds scooping hollows under grass tussocks on the middle slopes of Baker, above timber line, on the 7th of June, 1905. On the 20th of July, 1900, Professor Lynds Jones and myself found a thick-walled grass nest settled upon bare rock without protection, on the south slope of the aiguille of Wright’s Peak, at an elevation of some 9,000 feet, and within a hundred yards of the summit; this could hardly have belonged to any other species.

In July, 1907, knowing that it was too late for eggs, I yet spent several days searching the precipitous wall which separates the upper Horseshoe Basin from the glacier which heads Thunder Creek. Adult birds to the number of a dozen gleaned scraps from the dump of the Cascade Mine house; but, altho each made off in business-like fashion when “loaded,” the stretch of the wall was too vast and its recesses too mazy to permit of exact work in tracing. I therefore examined carefully but with difficulty several of the weathered fissures, or _couloirs_, which ran perpendicularly up the face of the cliff. Here, under cover of rocks which had lodged in the throat of the fissure, or which had weathered out unevenly, old nests were found, simple affairs of coiled grasses, and too dilapidated for exact measurement. From one of these sites a pebble snapped from the finger must have fallen three hundred feet before striking the glacier below.

Now and then a passing bird, suspicious of my intent, stopped on some projecting point of rock, to utter the sole note which does duty for every mood, _churkk_ or _schthub_, a sound comparable only to the concussion of a small taut rope on a flag-pole. Finally, near the top of the Sahale Glacier, I got a line at two hundred yards on an occupied fissure, and traced both parent Leucostictes into its distant recesses. Climbing cautiously up a sharp slope of ice, my footsteps were guided by the almost incessant clamor of young birds. Arrived at the upper lip of the glacier, however, I found that it stood away from the rock-wall some fifteen feet, and that a chasm some forty feet in depth yawned beneath. Into this forbidding _bergschrund_, one of the fledgling Leucostictes had tumbled. He was not more than two-thirds grown (July 18th) and down feathers still fluttered from his cheeks, but he was a plucky little fellow, and had managed to scramble up off the ice onto a piece of flat rock which caught a bit of the afternoon sun. Here, to judge from his lusty yelping, there could be no doubt that his parents would notice him, altho they would be powerless to secure his further release until his wings were grown. A Carnegie medal hovered suggestively over the spot, I know; but pray, consider,—the rock wall was perpendicular and smooth as glass, the ice-wall I stood on was undercut. No; even philornithy has its limits!

The nest containing the remaining youngsters was set well back in a rock fissure, concealed by projections eighty feet above the fallen first-born, and inaccessible to man from above or below. With the possible exception of the Black Cloud Swifts (_Cypseloides niger borealis_), who are reported to share at times these same cliffs, it is safe to say that the Leucostictes are the highest nesters on the continent.

No. 29.
REDPOLL.

A. O. U. No. 528. Acanthis linaria (Linn.).

Synonyms.—Common Redpoll. Lesser Redpoll. Linnet. Lintie.

Description.—_Adult male_: Crown crimson; breast and shoulders crimson
in varying proportions according to season; frontlet, lores, and
throat-patch sooty black; remaining lower parts white, flanks and
crissum streaked with dusky; above, variegated dusky, flaxen-brown and
whitish, the feathers having dusky centers and flaxen edgings; rump
dusky and white in streaks, tinged with rosy; wings and tail dusky
with flaxen or whitish edgings; two inconspicuous wing-bars formed by
white tips of middle and greater coverts. _Female_: Similar but
without red on rump and breast, the latter suffused with buffy
instead; sides heavily streaked with dusky. _Immature_: Like female
but without crimson crown. Length 5.50 (139.7) or less; wing 2.80
(71.1); tail 2.30 (58.4); bill .34 (8.6); depth at base .23 (5.8).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler to Sparrow size; crimson crown-patch in
adults; no dusky spot on breast.

Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. _Nest_: a bulky affair of twigs
and grasses, lined with feathers and placed in trees and bushes.
_Eggs_: 4-6, pale blue, dotted and speckled with reddish brown or
umber. Av. size, .65 × .50 (16.5 × 12.7).

General Range.—Northern portions of northern hemisphere, south
irregularly in winter, in North America to the Middle States, and
southern Oregon.

Range in Washington.—Winter resident, abundant on East-side,
infrequent or casual west of the Cascades.

Migrations.—Nov. 1-Dec. 15. Feb. 15-March 15. Yakima Co. Oct. 31,
1899. Chelan March 19, 1896.

Authorities.—_Ægiothus linaria_ Cab. Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. R.
R. Surv. Vol. XII. pt. ii, 1860, 198. C&S. D¹. Ra. D². Kk. J. B.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. C. P.

Those who count themselves familiar with the Goldfinch are apt to let the first few flocks of Redpolls pass unquestioned. When, however, in late November, a norther brings down some thousands of these Alaskan waifs, the bird student is roused to attention. The resemblance between the two species is most striking in form and appearance as well as in habit and note. But once the eyes have been assured by a near revelation of convincing red, that _Acanthis linaria_ is before them, the ears remark also a slight foreign accent in the _sweetie_ call and in the rattling flight notes.

Redpolls summer abundantly along the coasts of Alaska, and along the higher levels down thru British Columbia. The winter movements of this species are irregular and somewhat confusing. According to Nelson, the western residents retire into the interior of Alaska to winter, where they are able to withstand the fiercest cold. The interior birds retire largely to the south, and under the urgency of bad weather sweep into or thru eastern Washington in immense numbers. There is also a small movement setting in a southwesterly direction, so that some birds winter regularly on Vancouver Island, and a few straggle thru the Puget Sound country.

While with us, the Redpoll is nowise dependent upon the forests, but appears to seek the more open country by preference. It subsists chiefly upon seeds, gleaning them from the ground with much pleasant chatter, or seeking them in their winter receptacles. Redpoll again proves kinship with Goldfinch by eating thistle seeds, and with Siskin by his extravagant fondness for the alder catkin. Redpoll’s manner is very confiding; and we are sure that he would not begrudge us a share of his winter viands, if we cared for them. The author is no vegetarian, but he is bound to admit that a “simple diet of grains, fruits and nuts” makes for contentment among the birds, even at forty below zero.

As spring comes on, and the gentle hyperboreans prepare to return to their native heather, we see the deep-dyed crimson of full regalia on crown and breast. But during the actual breeding season, we are told by a competent observer in Greenland, Holboell, the male not only becomes exceedingly shy but loses his rosy coloring. It is hardly to be supposed that this loss of color is a protective measure, but rather that it is the result of the exhaustive labors incident to the season. Nature, in that forbidding clime, cannot afford to dress a busy workman in fine clothes. It is noteworthy in this connection, also, that caged Redpolls lose their rosy tints never to regain them.

No. 30.
PINE SISKIN

A. O. U. No. 533. Spinus pinus (Wils.).

Synonyms.—American Siskin. Pine Finch. Pine Linnet.

Description.—_Adult male and female_: Above brownish buffy; below
creamy-buff and whitish; everywhere streaked with dusky or dark
olive-brown; the streakings are finer on the head and foreparts,
coarser on back and breast; wings fuscous, the flight feathers
sulphur-yellow at the base, and the primaries edged with the same
color; tail fuscous, all but the middle feathers sulphur-yellow at
base. Bill comparatively slender, acute. Length 4.75-5.00 (120.6-127);
wing 2.75 (69.9); tail 1.80 (45.7); bill .43 (10.9).

Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; conspicuous general streakiness,
sulphur-yellow markings of wings and tail, most noticeable in flight.

Nesting.—_Nest_: saddled upon horizontal limb of evergreen tree, well
concealed from below, usually at moderate heights; very variable in
structure, flimsy to massive and ornate; composed of small twigs
(usually fir), and tree-moss, with a lining of fine rootlets and
horse- or cow-hair, rarely feathers. An average nest measures
externally 4½ inches wide by 2¼ in. deep; internally 2 in. wide by 1
in. deep. _Eggs_: 1-4, usually 3 or 4, pale bluish green lightly
dotted with rufous and blackish, chiefly about larger end. Av. size
.67 × .48 (17 × 12.2). _Season_: March-September, but most abundant in
April; one brood.

General Range.—North America at large, breeding in higher latitudes,
and in coniferous forests of the West to southern boundary of United
States; also sparingly in northeastern United States; irregularly
south in winter to Gulf of Mexico.

Range in Washington.—In summer coextensive with evergreen timber, but
especially common in mountains just below limit of trees; in winter
more localized, or irregularly absent.

Authorities.—_Chrysomitris pinus_ Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv.
IX. pt. II. 1858, p. 425. T. C&S. L². Rh. D¹. D². Kk. J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. B. E. P.

In designing the Siskin, Nature achieved another triumph in obscurities. The heavy streaky pattern, worked out in dusky olive on a buffy brown base, prepares the bird for self-effacement in any environment; while the sulphur-colored water-mark of the outspread wings barely redeems its owner from sheer oblivion. This remark applies, however, only to plumage. In behavior the Siskin is anything but a forgettable bird-person.

Whatever be the time of year, Siskins roam about in happy, rollicking bands, comprising from a score to several hundred individuals. They move with energy in the communal flight, while their incessant change of relative positions in flock suggests those intramolecular vibrations of matter, which the “new physicists” are telling us about. When a bird is sighted alone, one sees that it is the graceful, undulatory, or “looping,” flight of cousin Goldfinch which the social Siskin indulges so recklessly.

Many of the notes, too, remind us of the Goldfinch. There are first those little chattering notes indulged a-wing and a-perch, when the birds are not too busy feeding. The _koodayi_ of inquiry or greeting is the same. But there is another note quite distinctive. It is a labored, but singularly penetrating production with a peculiar vowel sound (like a German umlauted u), _züm_ or _zzeem_. So much effort does the utterance of this note cost the bird, that it always occasions a display of the hidden sulphur markings of wings and tail.

When fired by passion the Siskin is capable, also, of extended song. This daytime serenade is vivacious, but not loud except in occasional passages,—a sort of chattering, ecstatic warble of diverse elements. The bird has, besides its own peculiar notes, many finch-like phrases and interpolations, reminding one now of the Goldfinch, and now of the California Purple Finch. The most striking phrase produced in this connection is a triple shriek of the Evening Grosbeak, subdued of course, but very effective.

Tho perhaps not numerically equal to the Western Golden-crowned Kinglet, nor to the Western Winter Wren, there is not another bird in Washington which enjoys a more nearly uniform distribution than the Pine Siskin. Its breeding range coincides with the distribution of evergreen timber; its feeding forays include all alder trees; and roving bands are likely to turn up anywhere in eastern Washington, if there is shrubbery larger or greener than sage-brush at hand.

Much of Siskin’s food is obtained upon the ground. City lawns are favorite places of resort; these birds, together with California Purple Finches, appearing to derive more benefit from grass plots, whether as granaries or insectaria, than does any other species. They share also with Crossbills a strong interest in the products of fir trees, whether in cone or leaf. Their peculiar province, however, is the alder catkin, and the tiny white seeds obtained from this source are the staple supply of winter. Mr. Brown, of Glacier, has examined specimens in which the crops were distended by these seeds exclusively. While the observer is ogling, it may be an over-modest Townsend Sparrow, a flock of Pine Siskins will charge incontinently into the alders above his very head. With many _zews_ and _zeems_ they fall to work upon the stubborn catkins, poking, twisting, prying, standing on their heads if need be, to dig out the dainty dole. Now and then, without any apparent reason, one detachment will suddenly desert its claim and settle upon another, precisely similar, a few feet away; while its place will be taken, as likely as not, by a new band, charging the tree like a volley of spent shot.

Nesting time with the Siskin extends from March to September, and the parental instinct appears in the light of an individual seizure, or decimating epidemic, rather than as an orderly taking up of life’s duties. Smitten couples drop out from time to time from the communal groups, and set up temporary establishments of their own; but there is never any let-up in the social whirl on the part of those who are left; and a roistering company of care-free maids and bachelors _en fete_ may storm the very tree in which the first lullabies are being crooned by a hapless sister. Once in a while congenial groups agree to retire together, and a single tree or a clump of neighbors may boast a half-a-dozen nests; tho which is which and what is whose one cannot always tell, for the same intimacy which suggested simultaneous marriage, allows an almost unseemly interest in the private affairs of a neighbor.

Once embarked upon the sea of matrimony, the female is a very determined sitter, and the male is not inattentive. In examining the nest of a sitting bird one may expect the mother to cover her eggs at a foot’s remove, without so much as by-your-leave.

The nest, in our experience, is invariably built in an evergreen tree, usually a Douglas spruce (_Pseudotsuga mucronata_), and is commonly saddled upon a horizontal or slightly ascending limb at some distance from the tree trunk. Viewed from below, it appears merely as an accumulation of material at the base of divergent twigs, where moss and waste is wont to gather. As to distance from the ground, it may vary from four to a hundred feet. The latter is the limit of investigation, but there is no particular reason to suppose they do not go higher. Most of the nests are placed at from eight to twenty feet up.

The materials used in construction are dead fir-twigs, weed-stalks, strips of cedar-bark, mosses of several sorts, grass, fir, hair, plant downs, etc. The interior may be carefully lined with fine rootlets, fur, horse-hair, feathers, altho there is great variation both in material and workmanship. Some nests appear little better than those of Chipping Sparrows; while the best cannot certainly be distinguished (without the eggs) from the elegant creations of the Audubon Warbler. One nest found near Tacoma in April, 1906, was allowed to pass for two weeks as that of a Western Golden-crowned Kinglet; it was built in characteristic Kinglet fashion, chiefly of moss, and was lashed midway of drooping twigs four inches to one side and below the main stem of the sustaining branch, near its end.

The eggs are three or four in number, tho sets of one and two are not rare in some seasons. They are a very pale bluish green in color, with dots, blotches, streaks, and occasional marbling, of rufous and brown, chiefly about the larger end. They vary considerably in size and shape, running from subspherical to a slender ovate. Measurements of average eggs are .68 × .48 inches.

Incubation lasts about twelve days, and the young-are ready to fly in as many more. The brood does not remain long in a family group but joins the roving clan as soon as possible. We suspect, therefore, that the Siskin raises but one brood in a season; and she undoubtedly heaves a sigh of relief when she may again don her evening gown, and rejoin “society.”

No. 31.
WESTERN GOLDFINCH.

A. O. U. No. 529a. Astragalinus tristis pallidus (Mearns).

Synonyms.—Pale Goldfinch. “Wild Canary.” “Summer Yellow-bird.”
Thistle-bird.