The Migration of North American Sparrows 



TWENTY-SEVENTH PAPER 



Compiled by Prof. V/. ^V. Cooke, Chiefly from Data in the Biological Survey 



With drawings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 



(See Frontispiece) 



CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH 



This bird is the western representative of the Purple Finch, treated in the 

 last issue of Bird-Lore. The eastern form, (purpureus) extends west to the 

 Plains; while the subspecies, known as the California Purple Finch (Cali- 

 fornicus) is confined, for the most part, to the Pacific slope, and is 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. In Canada, however, 

 the range of the eastern forms bends westward and extends at least to Stuart 

 Lake, B. C, thus intergrading in central British Columbia with the California 

 Purple Finch, which is a common bird of southern British Columbia. 



The latter form breeds over much of California, and moves south, in the 

 fall, to the extreme southern part of the state. The first arrival was seen at 

 Mount Whitney, October lo, 1875; Dunlap, October 26, 1890; Santa Barbara, 

 October 29, 1910; Pasadena, October 27, 1896; Los Angeles, October 31, 

 1908; and Santa Catalina Mills, Ariz., November 11, 1885. 



The birds remained at this last place until February 9, 1886, and were 

 seen at Fort Verde, Ariz., until March 25, 1886; at Los Angeles, Calif., to 

 March 25, 1908, and at Pasadena to April 29, 1896. 



A few winter so far north that they were noted at Fort Vancouver, Wash., 

 January 18, 1854; and at Chilliwack, B. C, January 28, 1889. As with the 

 eastern form, the presence of these scattering winter birds makes it impossible 

 to tell when spring migration really begins. Some dates of the first seen are: 

 Fort Klamath, Ore., March i, 1887; Portland, Ore., March 10, 1897, and 

 February 27, 1900; Beaverton, Ore., March 6, 1884, and February 20, 1885; 

 Sumas, B. C, March 7, 1905, and Burrard Inlet, B. C, April 4, 1885. 



CASSIN'S PURPLE FINCH 



Breeding south to southern California, central Utah, and southern Col- 

 orado, the Cassin's Purple Finch has few migration records south of the regu- 

 lar breeding range, while a few birds wintering north to Colorado and north- 

 ern California interfere with the determination of the dates of spring migra- 

 tion. The first appeared at Willis, N. M., August 26, 1883; Mogollon Moun- 

 tains, Ariz., October 6, 1884; and Fort Whipple, Ariz., October 21, 1864. The 

 last was noted at Albuquerque, N. M., November 15, 1853; and near Zuni, 

 N. H., November 20, 1873. 



The fiist spring migrant was seen at Tucson, Ariz., February 19, 1886; 



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