174 



LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



He finally woke up a solitary Pine Grosbeak, who uttered his 

 call-note several times, and remained in the neighborhood until 

 6.15, when he perched on the top of a pine, and sang for sev- 

 eral minutes. His song was sweet and veiy much like that of 

 the Purple Finch, but was now and then interrupted by his 

 ordinary cries." 



Fig. 8. Purple Fiuch (^). 



III. CARPODACUS 



(A) PURPCREUS. Purple Finch. " Linnet" 

 (In New England, a common resident in summer, but only 

 occasional in winter.) 



(a). About six inches long. 

 Crown-feathers erectile. $ , 

 carmine, of very different shades 

 and intensities in different speci- 

 mens. Back duskj'-streaked ; 

 bell}'', almost white. Edgings 

 of the wings, reddish. 9 , oli- 

 vaceous-brown, and streaked, 

 except on the bellj^, which as 

 well as a superciliary line is 

 white. Wings and tail like 

 those of the male, but with no reddish. 



(&). The nest is usually composed of fine rootlets, weed- 

 stalks, and grasses, being lined with hairs, but its materials 

 var}' greatly in some cases. It is placed in a pine, cedar, or- 

 chard-tree, or occasionally a bush or hedge, from five to twenty 

 feet above the ground. The eggs of each set are four or five, 

 and average -ToX'OO of an inch or more. Thej^ are of a 

 light greenish blue, marked rather thinly and chiefly at the 

 larger end, with specks, blotches, and scrawls, of very faint 

 lilac, and of blackish. The first set is laid about the first of 

 June or earlier, and a second one often appears in July. 



(c). The Purple Finches are well known on account of their 

 charming song, and the gay or brilliant coloring in summer of 

 the males, who attract, especially if in flocks, the attention of 

 many a person who is habitually inobservant. A few pass the 



