CARPODACUS PURPUREUS : PURPLE GROSBEAK. 217 



States ; but many others regularly pass that season in 

 southern New England. Their ranks recruited by the 

 new arrivals in early April, the Linnets soon become 

 very noticeable birds, and they continue in undimin- 

 ished numbers until October. They also appear to be 

 on the increase in some parts of New England, where 

 progressive horticulture invites their presence, for they 

 are very fond of feeding on the blossoms of fruit-trees, 

 and have earned the reputation, not wholly undeserved, 

 of doing much damage in this way. Like the " House 

 Finch " ( Carpodacus frontalis) of the southwest, this 

 species shows special apti- 

 tude for the society of man, 

 and nests by preference in the 

 most thickly settled and well 

 cultivated localities ; where its 

 sweet song and gay colors 



WOuld make it a great favor- FIG. 54. BILL OF PURPLE GROS- 

 .. . . BEAK. (Natural size.) 



ite, were it not for the way it 



has of operating in fruit-blossoms. Among its own 

 kind, it shows the same familiar and sociable traits 

 that it is inclined to display toward man, and is 

 almost always found in flocks, except when -paired for 

 the season. Its manners are habitually gentle and 

 agreeable, notwithstanding the differences of opinion 

 that not seldom occasion those exhibitions of temper 

 which the spirited bird is likely to give when irritated. 

 The nest will be found situated on the horizontal 

 branch of a tree, or in a fork, at any moderate distance 

 from the ground, preference being shown for ever- 

 greens and orchard-trees. The materials employed are 

 most miscellaneous weed-stalks, bark-strips, root- 

 lets, grasses almost any vegetable fibre being avail- 



