WESTERN BIRDS rinch 



it might be found that the birds were after a tiny insect 

 hidden within. 



These birds are fond of coniferous trees as nesting 

 sites, placing a nest made of grasses, twigs, rootlets, 

 lined with hair, from a few feet to quite a distance from 

 the ground. 



During the courting season the male sometimes in- 

 dulges in a flight-song, rising high into the air and 

 pouring forth his joyous strain as he descends. 



GENUS CARPODACUS : CALIFORNIA 

 PURPLE FINCH. 



California Purple Finch: Carpodacus purpureus call' 

 fornicus. 



FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



The bird in the west that represents the preceding 

 is a subspecies known as the California Purple Finch. 

 This western form is confined, for the most part, to the 

 Pacific slope, being separated in the United States from 

 the range of the eastern bird by the whole chain of 

 the Rocky Mountains, in which neither form occurs. 



For the most part this western bird nests in the higher 

 altitudes, choosing conifer or deciduous trees, and plac- 

 ing the rather shallow nest on a horizontal limb, rather 

 than a crotch. 



When winter comes the birds, banded together, stray 

 down into the valleys, where they glean seeds from the 

 willow thickets, or come familiarly into our gardens. 

 Like the Purple Finch, they are fond of fruit buds, often- 

 times filling a blossoming apricot or almond in Febru- 

 ary or March, I have noticed, however, that these same 

 trees have borne an abundance of fruit. 



In my own yard they are fond of pepper berries, often 

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