464 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



and always very amusing. Discretion usually took the place of valor on the 

 part of the intruder. 



The song of the Purple Finch reseniljles that of the Canary, and though 

 less varied and ])o\verful, is softer, sweeter, and more touching and pleasing. 

 The notes of this species may be lieard from the last of May until late in 

 September, and in the long summer evenings are often continued until aiter 

 it is quite dark. Their song has all the beauty and pathos of tlie Warbling 

 Vireo, and greatly resemliles it, but is more powerful and full in tone. It is 

 a very interesting sight to watch one of these little performers in the midst 

 of his song. He appears perfectly absorbed in his work, his form dilates, 

 his crest is erected, his throat expands, and he seems to be utterly uncon- 

 scious of all around him. But let an intruder of his own race appear within 

 a few feet of the singer, and the song instantly ceases, and in a violent fit 

 of indignation he cliases him away. 



The flight of the Purple Finch is said by Mr. Audubon to resemble that 

 of tlie (Ireen Finch of Europe. They fly in compact flocks, with an undu- 

 lating motion, alighting all at once, and tlien instantly, as if suddenly 

 alarmed, take again to flight c)nly to return to the same tree. They then 

 immediately make each his sejiarate wny to the ends of the branches, and 

 commence eating the buds. Tlie food tliey take to their young is juicy ber- 

 ries and the softer ])ortions of tlu; young cones of tlie flr and spriice. 



They nest generally in firs, spruces, or cedar-trees, though occasionally on 

 the upper branches of a high apple-tree. Their nests are usually placed upon 

 a branch, rather than interlaced between its forked twigs. I have known 

 them not more than five feet from the ground, and at other times on the high- 

 est point of a lofty fir-tree. The nests are, for the most part, somewhat flat 

 and shallow structures, not more than two and a half inches in height, and 

 about three and a half in breadth. The walls of the nest average less than 

 an incli, and the cavity corresponds to its general shape and form. The 

 framework of the nest is usually made of small denuded vegetable fibres, 

 stems of grasses, strips of bark, and woody fragments. The upper rim of the 

 nest is often a curious intertwining of dry herbaceous stems, the ends of which 

 project above the nest itself in the manner of a low palisade. The inner nest 

 is made a\) of minute vegetable filires, closely interwoven. There is usually no 

 other lining than this. At other times these nests are largely made up of small 

 dark-coloied rootlets of wooded plants, lined witli finer materials of the same, 

 occasionally mingled with the down of birds and the fur of small animals. 



The eggs of the Purple Finch vary greatly in size, and somewhat in shape. 

 Generally they are 'of an oblong oval, pointed considerably at one end. Their 

 length varies from .92 to .81 of an inch, and their breadth from .70 to .60. 

 Their color is a pale shade of emerald-green, spotted with dark brown, almost 

 black, chiefly about the larger end. Tlie ground-color is mncli brighter when 

 the eggs are fresh, and soon fades upon exposure to light, and e\ en when kept 

 in a close drawer. 



