56 



large flocks of Pine Grosbeaks visited Long Island, Hoboken, and va- 

 rious places in the lower parts of New Jersey and New York. Since 

 that period until the present year, I have not seen or heard of its 

 occurring on Long Island. In the interval, a few have been observed 

 in Rockland County, in which section, as with us, it was quite common 

 during the month of January of the present year [1844] .... Al- 

 though large numbers were during the winter observed in the vicinity 

 of New York, very few adults were procured." 



Dimensions. Average measurements of sixty-two specimens: 

 length, 9-08; stretch, 13-90; wing, 4-36; tail, 3 67 ; culmen, -54; bill 

 from nostril, -43; gape, '60; tarsus, '88; middle toe, -63; its claw, '35. 



69. Carpodacus purpureus, (Gmelin). PUKPLK FINCH. A per- 

 manent resident; breeds. Though not very'numerous in summer, a 

 few commonly nest near my house, building in the tops of tall cedars 

 or Norway spruces. Mr. William K. Lente found its nest at Cold 

 Spring, in 1874. Mr. R. F. Pearsall found a nest at Bayside, Long 

 Island, on June 15, 1878; he thinks that it is "the most southern point 

 at which the species has been found breeding." 20 



These handsome birds are generally abundant in winter. Their 

 song, which is loud and sweet, is indulged in by both sexes through- 

 out the autumn and winter, as well as during the love season. Fe- 

 males are heard to sing, in winter, as commonly as the males. Adult 

 males, in winter, are sometimes very scarce, though the opposite sex 

 is well represented ; this is frequently as marked as was the case with 

 the Pine Grosbeak and Lesser Redpoll, in the early part of the winter 

 of 1874-75. They are gregarious, often assembling in very large 

 flocks. On some occasions they are quite wild, and, on being ap- 

 proached, all rise at once on wing with a loud, rushing noise, accom- 

 panied by certain peculiar wild notes, which produces quite a startling 

 effect. They feed upon seeds of the iron-wood (Ostrya vtrginica), and 

 red cedar berries. When feeding in flocks, the rustle of their wings 

 is constant, and their united chirping produces a singular effect. 

 Their whirring flight and chattering notes remind one of the flight 

 of flocks of House Sparrows. I have found immense flocks in March, 

 eating the seeds of hemlock spruce (At lies canadensis). 



The great bulk of this species passes north during the spring mi- 

 gration. As usual in general migrations, the males precede their 

 partners by several days. At that season they often frequent ploughed 

 fields, in company with the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo 

 Birds, where th* i y do some damage by picking up the newly-sown 

 grain. Like the Blue Jay and some other birds, they appear to be 

 unusually lively during a rain-storm; and, in winter, at the commence- 

 ment of a snow-storm, they sometimes hie to the loftiest tree-top, 



20 See Bulk-tin of the Muttall Ornithological Club, Vol. IV, p. 122, April, 1879. 



