Fi:iN<nLLII)J': — THK FIXCHl'X 



4(;i 



Carpoffnrus frontnlis. 



less sliaT]'ly «l"tiiu'(l, aiul tlic wiii^f-ieatluTs arc lnnadly edncd with li^dit 

 earth-bniwii. 



Ill autiiiiin ami winter, as in all tlic otlitT specie's, the rod tints art; softer 

 and lanrt' }»inj>lisli tlian in sprinL; and snininer. 



IIahiis. C'assin's Purplf Fincli is the largest of the American hirds of 

 this genus, and is not only eunspiciiuusly 

 ditferent from all in size, but also in other 

 respeets. It is found hetween tlie ureat Cen- 

 tral Plains and the eoast niiiLje of mountains, 

 heinjx one of the eominon l>irds of Colorado, 

 rtali, Nevada, and Kastern Calilornia. Dr. 

 Cooper found these hirds in larue iiunil)ers 

 about Lake Talioc in California. They were 

 all in their brown i»luinage, and seemed so 

 much like the C. califoniu'U)> in their habits 

 that he mistook them for that sjjoeies. He 

 noticed in them a very peculiar call-note as 

 they Hew, reminding him of that of PiinnKjn, 

 and (juite dilferent from the other Vin-podaci. The song of these l)irds, 

 as he afterwards heard it, was much louder and finer ihan that of C. coli- 

 fornints. and more original in stvle. He is not familiar with their other 

 habits, and has never met with them in the C(»lorado Vallev. Thev have 

 l)eeii procured from Fort Tliurne, l*uel)lo Creek, and Alber(iuer(|iie, Xew 

 Mexico. Mr. Ifidgwav met with these birds in the Wahsatch Mountains, 

 June 2C), 18(19, in Tarley's l*ark, Utah, where he found them breeding. 

 Their nest was in the to]) of a cottonwo<xl-tree near the canon stream, about 

 forty feet from the ground. It is a soft homogeneous structure, flattened in 

 shape, and with only a slight dejux'ssion. It is composed principally of roots 

 and twigs, lined with softer materials of the same, iiiters})ersed with moss, 

 cotton, and other soft substances. It is two inches in height with a width 

 of four and a half inches. The cavity is about an inch deep. 



In his Iieport on the birds of Mr. King's survey, Mr. IJidgway states that 

 he found this Linnet in the greatest abundance among the j)ines of the Sierra 

 Xevada, near Carson City. It was next seen among the cedars and nut-pines 

 of the East Humboldt Mountains, and again in the ])iiie woods and cotton- 

 wood-trees along the streams on the AVahsatch Mountains. It breeds in all 

 these localities, and is in its habits essentially, though not exclusively, resi- 

 dent among the pines. March 21, 1868, Mr. Kidgway observed flocks of 

 these birds near Carson City. They were found in every portion of the 

 woods, feeding among the branches of the pine-trees. They were all in full 

 song, the females as well as the males. A week later he again found them 

 common among the isolated pines in the fields at the foot of the Sierras, 

 alighting on the trees in companies. Their notes resemble the song of the C. 

 purpureas, but are finer and more musical. They have a great resemblance 



