House Finch Nesting in British Columbia
House Finch Nesting in British Columbia
In June, 1939, a pair of House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus subsp.) built their nest in a Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis cinquefolia) which climbs up the veranda of my house at Okanagan Landing. The nest, sheltered from view by thick foliage, was fastened securely between one of the veranda posts and a branch of the vine. When first examined, it contained five eggs. Both birds were shy and quiet, contrary to their usual habit elsewhere. The female would leave the nest at the least disturbance in the vicinity; the male was seen in her company and also on his singing perches, one of which was a nearby telephone wire, another a fence wire. The eggs hatched on June 18; the young left the nest a week later and up until the date of writing neither the adults nor the young have again been seen in the vicinity.
Two earlier observations of the nesting of this species in British Columbia (Penticton in the Okanagan Valley, and Victoria on Vancouver Island) are recorded by Cowan (Condor, vol. 39, 1937, p. 22.5). Okanagan Landing, which is about seventy miles north of Penticton, would appear to be the third locality from which the species has been recorded in Canada.
J. A. Munro
Okanagan Landing, B. C., July 8, 1939
