F R I N G I L L I D JE. 



generally in the grass, and seldom alighting on trees 

 or shrubs. The whole head and neck of the male 

 are brilliant verdigris blue ; the back brownish black, 

 intermixed with blue ; breast ferruginous, becoming 

 pale as we descend ; wings variegated with black 

 and blue, with two white bars across ; bill and feet 

 horn colour. 



Reed Bunting. 



Allied to these birds, and connecting them, on the 

 one hand, with the linnets and other typical finches, 

 and, on the other, with the pine bullfinches and 

 crossbills, we have the genus Erythrospiza, containing 

 a number of species so similar in plumage, as to be 

 told apart with difficulty, and in which the predomi- 

 nating colour is red, of various shades of hue and 

 brightness. They have a very wide range of geo- 

 graphical distribution, one or two species being found 

 in Africa ; but the majority of them inhabit the more 

 northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. We 

 know little of their habits beyond -the minute and 

 accurate description which Wilson, the ornithologist 

 of the United States, has furnished us with concerning 

 the only species which he enjoyed opportunities of 

 observing. As described by him, their habits seem 

 intermediate between those of the common linnet and 

 bullfinch of this country. 



One species abounds in winter in the United States, 

 Erythrospiza purpurca, described by Wilson, under 

 the name of purple finch. " This," he observes," is a 

 winter bird of passage, coming to us in large flocks, 

 from the north, in September and October ; great 

 numbers remaining with us in Pennsylvania during 

 the whole winter, feeding on the seeds of the poplar, 

 button-wood, juniper, cedar, and on those of many 

 rank weeds that flourish in rich bottoms, and along the 

 margin of creeks. When the season is very severe, 

 they proceed to the south, as far at least as'Georgia, 

 returning north early in April. They now frequent 

 the elm trees, feeding on the slender but sweet cover- 

 ing of the flowers ; and as soon as the cherries put 

 out their blossoms, feed almost exclusively on the 

 stamina of the flowers ; afterwards the apple blossoms 

 are attacked in the same manner, and their depreda- 

 tions on these continue till they disappear, which is 

 usually about the tenth or middle of May." Among 

 the Fringillidce of Europe, many feed very much upon 



the unopened blossoms of various plants; the goldfinch 

 and linnet for example, on those of the furze, but the 

 common bullfinch (so far as the writer of this has ob- 

 served), is the only species which attacks and devours 

 the fruit blossoms, and the depredations which two 

 or three of these beautiful birds will commit in a gar- 

 den in the course of a few days, are by no means in- 

 considerable. In England we have hardly so destruc- 

 tive a bird in the orchards as the common bullfinch, 

 and the purple finch appears in America to perform 

 the same part which this species does with us. " These 

 birds," Wilson continues," fly at a considerable height 

 in the air, and their note is a single chink. They 

 possess great boldness and spirit, and when caught 

 bite violently, and hang by the bill from your hand, 

 striking with great fury ; but they are soon reconciled 

 to confinement, and in a day or two are quite at home. 

 1 have kept a pair of these birds upwards of nine 

 months to observe their manners. One was caught 

 in a trap, the other was winged with a gun ; both are 

 now as familiar as if brought up from the nest by the 

 hand, arid seem to prefer hempseed and cherry blos- 

 soms to all other kinds of food. Both male and i'einale, 

 though not crested, are almost constantly in the habit 

 of erecting the feathers of the crown ; they appear to 

 be of a tyrannical and dorniijeering disposition, for 

 they nearly killed an indigo bird, and two or three 

 others that were occasionally placed with them ; 

 driving them into a corner of the cage, standing on 

 them, and tearing out their feathers, striking them on 

 the head, munching their wings, &c., till I was obliged 

 to interfere ; and even if called to, the aggressor would 

 only turn up a malicious eye to me for a moment, 

 and renew his outrage as before. They are a hardy 

 vigorous bird." The males are all over dark crimson, 

 deepest on the head and chin, and lightest on the 

 lower part of the breast ; back streaked with a dusky 

 colour, and wings and tail dusky black, the latter con- 

 siderably forked. The female is of a brown olive, or 

 flaxen colour, streaked with dusky black, and having 

 also a little whitish about the head and under parts. 



" A male," says Wilson, " of one of these birds, 

 which I kept for some time, changed in the month of 

 October from red to greenish yellow, but died before 

 it recovered its former colour." There is something 

 very obscure in the changes of hue which most finches 

 exhibit which are tinged more or less with red. Those 

 of the common linnet, and its more immediate con- 

 geners, we shall describe presently ; in them the red 

 invariably disappears entirely after moulting in the 

 cage, and the approach of the breeding season, though 

 it excites them to song, and, although they breed very 

 readily in confinement, never brightens their plu- 

 mage, in the least degree, as is the case when they are 

 flying wild. In a state of nature, they push forth dark 

 brownish-red feathers in autumn, which in spring 

 change rather suddenly to bright scarlet ; but the 

 purple finch appears in winter to be clad in a garb of 

 bright red. so that the fact of Wilson's bird changing 

 by moulting into " greenish yellow," seems rather to 

 have been an effect produced by the unnatural state of 

 confinement ; and it is very probable that it would 

 never afterwards have assumed its red plumage in the 

 cage. 



A species closely allied to the purple finch, and 

 which Wilson erroneously supposed to be identical 

 with it, is the JErytftrospiza roscrt, an inhabitant chiefly 

 of northern Europe, but which is also found occasion- 

 ally in arctic America. Its form and plumage, and, 



