RED CONSPICUOUS IN PLUMAGE 479 
Young: Similar to adult female, but colors duller, markings less dis- 
tinct, and edgings of wing-feathers more buffy. 
Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of United States, from Southern 
California to British Columbia. 
California Breeding Range: Upper Sonoran and Transition zones west 
of the Sierra Nevada range. 
Breeding Season: May and June. 
Nest: A flat thin structure } made of fine rootlets and grasses ; placed on 
the horizontal limbs of trees. 
Eggs: 2 to 4; greenish blue, finely speckled on large end with dark 
brown and black. Size 0.75 X 0.55. 
THE California Purple Finch is one of those species 
which indulge in a semi-annual vertical migration. 
Spending the winter among the lowlands, feeding 
through the valleys in small flocks, as soon as the snow 
begins to melt in the mountains, they work their way 
slowly to the higher levels. And the fruit-growers are 
not sorry to see them go, for during their brief stay 
through the winter months they have eaten the buds of 
the deciduous trees, doing incalculable harm to the 
crops. 
Half-way up the mountains, at an altitude of from 
three thousand to five thousand feet, they find suitable 
breeding grounds in the yellow pines, oaks, and_ red- 
woods. The nest is built usually on a horizontal branch, 
and is composed of wiry grass and fine rootlets woven 
into a shallow cup and lined with wool or horsehair. 
Incubation lasts thirteen days ; and, so far as I have 
observed, the male does not brood upon the eggs, al- 
though he does take charge during the absence of the 
female. 
The song of the Purple Finch is a pleasing warble 
kept up during most of his waking hours in the breeding 
