422 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YOSEMITE 



But these birds sing typical male songs, and when any are collected they 

 are found to be males in breeding condition. The ordinary supposition 

 is that the male birds do not attain the red coloring until the second fall 

 after they are hatched, that is, when they are about fifteen months old. 

 Male linnets on the other hand acquire the red at the first fall molt, when 

 they are but three or four months old. 



The California Purple Finch is regularly migratory in the Yosemite 

 region. During the summer months the species is restricted closely to the 

 Transition Zone. It is then to be seen in fair numbers on the floor of 

 Yosemite Valley. Thus, on May 31, 1915, a 4-hour census there revealed 

 6 singing males. The latest date upon which the species was observed 

 by us in the Valley was August 19 (1915), but it undoubtedly occurs there 

 somewhat later. In the fall and winter the bird descends to the foothill 

 country ; we have found it then at El Portal, at Pleasant Valley, and even 

 at Lagrange. At the first-named place the species was seen on October 7 

 (1914), and on the one day of December 7 the same year more than a 

 hundred of the birds were seen there. At the lower stations only a small 

 number of these birds were recorded, and not until December. They leave 

 Pleasant Valley before the end of February. 



Purple finches are never found in large flocks as are linnets. Small 

 bands numbering at most a dozen birds seem to be the rule. They forage 

 largely in the terminal foliage of trees or bushes where they seek the buds 

 or fruits. At times they descend to open ground to forage. "We do not 

 recall having seen them in pure chaparral. At El Portal in December 

 the birds were giving attention almost exclusively to the scattering bushes 

 of Rhamnus californicus, the coffee-berry or cascara, the fruits of which 

 were being eagerly eaten. When willows come into blossom the purple 

 finches are accustomed to visit these trees and feed on portions of the 

 catkins as well as on the buds. At Dudley on July 21, 1920, California 

 Purple Finches were feeding on the fruits of the manzanita {Arcto- 

 staphylos mai'iposa), and the plumage on the head and breast of a bird 

 collected was gummy from contact with the sticky coating on the berries. 



On December 2, 1914, a company of about 15 California Purple Finches 

 was seen gathered about a small quiet willow-bordered pool near the 

 Merced River at El Portal. There in company with Sierra Juncos and 

 brown towhees they were bathing and then coming out on the adjoining 

 shrubbery to dry and preen their feathers. The purple finches were 

 notably quiet, not singing at all and only occasionally uttering a few simple 

 call notes. The purple finch does not sing so continuously or through 

 such a long season as does the linnet. Indeed the former is a character- 

 istically quiet bird, quite in contrast to its loquacious lowland relative. 

 At Dudley, in 1920, one was heard in song as late as July 15. 



