226 Bird -Lore 



Then come three birds who would seem original and striking in any family — 

 the Indigo Bunting, the southern Blue Grosbeak and the beautiful Painted Bunt- 

 ing or Nonpareil, gay in blue, gold, red and green plumes. 



Red and blue — then yellow must follow as a natural sequence, to complete 

 the primary colors. It is a fact, in the floral kingdom, that the three primary 

 •colors never exist naturally without artificial hybridization in one family; thus, 

 there are red and yellow roses, but no blue; red and blue verbenas, but no yellow, 

 and so on. 



In the Sparrow family, however, we have the three primary colors in all their 

 purity, — the American Goldfinch clad in pure gold and the Dickcissel of the yellow 

 breast, together with the yellow wing and tail marks of the Pine Siskin, supplying 

 the third color. The Towhee Bunting stands alone, a blending of brilliant black 

 above, white below, with chestnut sides and red eyes. The Chippy, Song and Field 

 Sparrows are typical of the color - protective family type. The white outer tail 

 quills are an index to the Vesper Sparrow ; the same white quills and a white vest 

 name the Slate-colored Junco. The White-throated Sparrow has his name plainly 

 printed under his beak, and the White-crowned Sparrow writes his in his white 

 head-stripe, while the rusty brown Fox Sparrow is known both by size and color. 



The Purple Finch, which, as I have said, is not purple, but, when in full 

 plumage, washed with a rich raspberry -red, deepest on breast, crown and rump, 

 light breast, brownish back, wings and tail, is one of the notable members of thie 

 family. Its bill is heavy and round, approaching in size those of the Grosbeaks, 

 while in body it ranks with Song and House Sparrows. Besides having a heavy 

 bill that suggests the Grosbeak, it has a way of bristling the feathers of its crown 

 that sometimes gives it the aggressive mien of the Cardinal; while its clinking call- 

 note and way of flying in scattered flocks, and the fact that it is with us in winter, 

 cause it to be sometimes mistaken in the distance for one of the Crossbills. 



One would think that, with its rich coloring and the fact that it is a winter resi- 

 dent in many parts of its range, this finch would be a well-known bird; yet many 

 people who have a fair knowledge of our common birds do not seem to know it. 

 Perhaps this is because the females and immature birds, wearing gray and brown 

 stripes, look so very much like their Sparrow kin that the rosy-vested bird that 

 sings in the trees, where his colors cannot be seen unless you are directly under 

 him, escapes unnoticed. The change of the young male Finch from his northern 

 plain garb to the full crimson costume is interesting as it is deliberate, taking two 

 seasons, the rosy flush not appearing until the end of the second year. 



The range of the Purple, or Crimson Finch, as I wish that the 

 His Range Wise Men would agree to call him, is eastern North America. The 

 nesting season is spent from Minnesota and the Middle States 

 northward, and the winter from the borders of the northern States southward to 

 the Gulf. Its choice of a nesting location is very wide, for, like the Catbird, it is 

 equally at home in unfrequented and brushy woodlands, and on the borders of 

 hom^e gardens where people are constantly present. 



