In spite of hif; unique plumage, it is for his song that this bird has won 

 renown, and it is by his song that he is most readily to be identified. To hear 

 this in its perfection, one must listen for it in May and June; for this finch has 

 not the enduring vocal qualities that endear his cousin, the song sparrow, and 

 give us the perpetual hope that we may hear his voice in every montli of the 

 year. — a hope that is usually fulfilled. The finches that have wintered with us 

 begin to warble a little in late March, and the same partial song may be heard in 

 October, after the molt: but the song that suddenly bursts into exuberance, ren- 

 dering him one of our most conspicuous songsters and recalling many notes of 

 the English chaflinch. belongs to the nesting season. 



It is almost impossible to render the song of a bird in syllables so that it 

 appeals to any number of people ; for. as bird music is phrased, according to 

 the natural, not the artificial, key that we associate with annotation, its trans- 

 lation is a matter of mood, temperament and accord between imagination and 

 ear. To me, when the voice of the crimson finch bursts forth in sudden joyous- 

 ness, it cries, "List to me, list to me, hear me. and I'll tell you. — you. you!" 

 There must be, however, some similarity between these syllables and the song, 

 because more than once, on endeavoring to name a curiously described bird that 

 I suspected might be this finch, the rapid wliisjiering of these words has com- 

 pleted the clue, by the inquirers exclaiming — "Yes, that is the way the song 

 went." Yet, do the best we can to suggest rhythm of the song, the music of it 

 belongs to the woods and fields, the sky and sun, from which we may not sepa- 

 rate it. Forbush says of it: "The song of the male is a sudden, joyous burst of 

 melody, vigorous, but clear and pure, to which no mere word can do justice. 

 When, filled with ecstasy, he mounts in air and hangs with fluttering wings 

 above the tree where sits the one who holds his affection, his eflforts far tran- 

 scend his ordinary tones, and a continuous melody flows forth, until exhausted 

 with his vocal eflfort, he sinks to the level of his spouse in the tree-top." 



These finches travel at times in flocks and are at all times somewhat grega- 

 rious, and this trait has made them an easy prey for bird-catchers, and Mr. For- 

 bush tells us that. "If a bird of this species is confined in a trap-cage in spring 

 and exposed in a conspicuous place, most of the purple finches in the neighbor- 

 hood may be trapped. The greater part of the so-called 'linnets' in many locali- 

 ties have been taken in this way, despite the law and its officers, who are on 

 the lookout for the law-breakers. The birds have been sold in the bird stores or 

 sent to Europe as red or gray linnets. This may account for a local scarcity of 

 this finch in some places where it was formerly common." 



The purple finch, though like many others, it hunts for succulent food, 

 apple and cherry blossoms in the spring, has a decided economic value ; for. the 

 season through it feeds upon orchard and woodland caterpillars, lice, canker- 

 worms, and when these are out of date it consumes quantities of the seeds of 

 injurious plants, including the noxious ragweed. 



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