Birds of Oregon and Washington 79 



THE CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION : 



Male : Head and breast, raspberry-red. 

 Length, 6 inches. 



Found early in the season, in company with Gold- 

 finches, feeding upon dandelion and other feathered 

 seeds. Later, in orchards and gardens. 



The Purple Finch is probably named, not from 

 the color which we commonly recognize by that 

 designation, but from a peculiar red shade which 

 perhaps approaches in some birds the ancient 

 Tyrian purple. The male, which takes all the 

 color of the species, does not come to his rich 

 heritage till he is two years old ; meanwhile, 

 closely resembling a Sparrow, he might be taken 

 for one. The beauty of the male is not alone in 

 the striking and unusual red upon head and 

 breast, but is also in the fine and varied brown 

 lines upon his back, and quite as much in his 

 perfect form. The female is far inferior to her 

 mate in respect of beauty. 



This is one of the most beloved, and at the 

 same time one of the most hated, of birds. For, 

 while he comes to the bird-lover as an object of 

 beauty to the eye with his display of fine color, 



