372 SINGING BIRDS. 



principally of different sorts of seeds ; they are also fond of 

 those of rice, and grass of all kinds. At the period of breeding 

 they sing with great sweetness and melody. 



This species is still considered a Southern bird ; but it regularly 

 visits Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Kansas, and has been taken in 

 Massachusetts, Maine, and New Brunswick. 



PURPLE FINCH. 



LINNET. 



Carpodacus purpureus. 



Char. Male: no "purple;" body rosy crimson, brightest on the 

 head, darkest on the back, palest on the breast ; belly white ; wings and 

 tail dusky ; everywhere streaked more or less with brown and gray. 

 Female and young : without red ; streaked brown and gray, sometimes 

 with olive tint. Length about 6j4^ inches. 



Nest. Near a settlement and in some old pasture, open grove, park, or 

 orchard ; composed of twigs, weed-stems, roots, and bark, lined with fine 

 grass or hair. 



Eggs. 4-5 ; pale dull bluish green, variously marked with dark brown 

 and lilac; 0.S5 X 0.60. 



These brilliant and cheerful songsters inhabit the Northern 

 and Western States during the summer, where they rear their 

 young. They appear to have a great predilection for resinous 

 ev^ergreens, pine, and spruce, and feed upon the berries of the 

 juniper and red cedar as well as the seeds of the tuhp-tree and 

 others ; they likewise frequent gardens for the same purpose, 

 and are particularly pleased with sunflower seeds and other 

 oily kinds. When reduced to necessity they are observed to 

 eat the buds of the beech and those of the fruit-trees, — prob- 

 ably for the sake of the stamens contained in them, of which 

 they are greedy when displayed in the opening blossoms. The 

 stipules of the expanding buds of the elm, which are sweet 

 and mucilaginous, as well as the young capsules of the willow 

 in the spring, also make a common part of their fare. Their 

 food in summer, however, consists principally of insects and 

 juicy berries, as those of the honeysuckle and others. 



