“His disposition also towards other birds, appeared to be mild and peaceful, as I had many opportunities to observe. I will mention one instance: In the piazza of the house I occupied, quite a colony of these birds had their nests: here the work of building and incubation had gone on prosperously for several weeks, although the weather at times was stormy and cold, and ere the genial warmth of spring was fairly felt, the colony might have been said to be fully established. As the season advanced and birds of less hardy nature began to arrive from the south, a pair of Barn-Swallows (_H. rufa_) made their appearance, and forthwith entered the territory of the Finches. And here they at once, very unceremoniously, began to erect their domicil. This act of aggression would have been fiercely resented by most birds, and violent measures would have been promptly resorted to, to eject the intruders. The conduct of the little finches was quite different: at first they stood aloof and seemed to regard the strangers with suspicion and distrust, rather than enmity. In the mean time the swallows went quietly to work, without showing any inclination to intermeddle; and in a day or two [their mud-walls all the time rapidly advancing] they gained the confidence of their neighbors, and finally completed their work unmolested. Indeed, a perfect harmony was established between the parties, which I never saw interrupted by a single quarrel during the time they remained my tenants. “This incident, and I would mention others were it necessary, illustrates the character of this species in strong contrast with that of its relative, the Purple-Finch, (_C. purpureus_,) which both Wilson and Audubon agree in representing, from personal observation, as quarrelsome, tyrannical and domineering in the extreme. This species may, moreover, be considered as a more southern bird than the Purple-Finch, its northern range probably not extending much beyond the limits of New Mexico, on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains; while that of the other stretches to the Fur countries. “On the western slope, it is common throughout California, but not in Oregon. At the Missions of San Diego and San Gabriel it nested in the hedge-rows, as well as in the buildings. I often saw it in numbers on the edges of the immense fields of wild mustard, a plant which, introduced by the early Spanish missionaries, now overruns whole districts of that country, and in size and vigor of growth is almost arborescent; but whether it nested in these thickets or not, I did not ascertain. Yet I found the nests of the Red-winged Black-bird (_A. phœniceus_) in numbers, placed at the distance of 6 or 8 feet from the ground, in the branches of the wild mustard.