FRINGILLIDM: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPABBOWS, ETC. 347 



9.50-10.00 ; wing about 3.00. Young S cannot be certainly distinguislied from <J ; in general, 

 duller and grayer brown, with less of the olive shade; the red first shows pale or bronzy in 

 slight touches. Cage-birds somethnes turn yellowish after moulting, as is the case mth 

 various other red finches. U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific, excepting probably the Southern 

 Rocky Mt. region ; N. to Labrador and the Saskatchewan. Breeds from the Middle States 

 northward; winters in most of the U. S., particularly the M. and S. States. An engaging 

 bird, of bright colors and sweet song, and many amiable traits, among them its fondnes.s for 

 the society of man ; it comes fearlessly about our houses to build its own, which is generally 

 situated on a horizontal bough or fork, composed of the most miscellaneous materials, almost 

 any vegetable fibre being available for the flat and shallow structure ; it is usually lined with 

 hair, and the eggs, to the number of 4 or 5, are pale dull greenish, or almost whitisli, sparsely 

 sprinkled and scratched with blackish surface-markings and Ulac shell-spots ; size about 0.S.5 

 X 0.G5 ; two broods are often reared. When not breeding the birds are generally found in 

 flocks, and it is to be feared they do damage in the spring to the blossoms of fruit-trees. 



195. C. eassi'ni. (To John Cassin.) Cassin's Purple Finch. Adult ,$ : In highest plumage 

 duller than C. purpureus, excepting on crown. Middle of the back brown, tinged with red, 

 the feathers dusky-centred, gray-edged ; crown crimson, the cap not so extensive as in purpu- 

 reus, and quite well defined, separated by a dusky and gray interval from the color of the back. 

 Under tail-coverts with dusky shaft lines, usually wanting in purpureus. Larger : length 

 6.50-7.00 ; extent 11.00-11.50; wing 3.50; tail 2.50; bill at least 0.50 along culmen, usually 

 more, relatively less turgid than in purpureus. Iris brown ; feet blackish-brown ; bill above 

 dark bluish horn-color, below dusky flesh-tinted. The sexual changes are the same as in the 

 last species ; it is not so easy to distinguish the 9 and young ^ from those of purpureus, but 

 they are larger, with longer and less tumid bill, and more streaked on the crissum. Very 

 young birds have an ochraceous or light rufous suffusion, especially noticeable on the under 

 parts; the streaks are more numerous and diffuse. Rocky Mts. of IT. S. and westward, espe- 

 cially the Southern Rocky Mt. region, as Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico ; N. to 

 British Columbia; E. to Wind River mountains; S. to table lands of Mexico. Habits the 

 same as those <;f the purple finch ; eggs not fairly distinguishable. 



196. C. frontalis. (Lat. frontalis, pertaining to the front.) Ckimson-fronted Finch. House 

 Finch. Burion. Adult ^ : Grayish-brown above, somewhat varied with darker centres and 

 paler edges of the feathers, and for the most part tinged with red. Below dull white, streaked 

 with dark brown, often tinged with red. Fore part of crown, superciliary line, rump, throat, 

 breast and sometimes side of head, crimson. Wings and tail dark brown, with narrow pale 

 edgings. Bill dusky-brown above, paler below; feet and eyes brown. Length about 6.00; 

 extent scarcely 10.00; wing 3.00; tail 2.50; scarcely forked; tarsus 0.67; bill 0.40, very 

 turgid, almost as in Finicola or Pyrrhula. ? : Like <?, but without any red; upper parts 

 more varied with darker centres and paler edges of the feathers, and entire under parts streaked 

 like belly of $. Young $ resembles the 9 , but at an early age is browner, and apt to have 

 buffy edgings of the wings. Colors of adult $ as variable as those of xmrpureus or more so. 

 In winter, the red less intense and more diffuse, and may have a rosy or purplish tint, or be 

 interrupted with grayish edgings of the feathers. Generally in the Colorado Valley, where the 

 typical form is developed, the red is restricted to the parts said, but the constant tendency is to 

 spread ; the back and belly have usually in fact a tinge of red, and in some eases the whole 

 head and fore parts are thus encrimsoned. U. S., rather southerly, from the Rocky Mts. to the 

 interior ranges of California ; Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico ; abundant in 

 those regions, and as familiar as a swallow or chip-bird, nesting in the streets and gardens, 

 where its bright colors, hearty song, and sprightly w-ays make it a welcome visitor. The nest- 

 ing is like that of the purple finch in essential particulars ; the eggs are smaller, paler, and of 

 more fugitive bluish tint, with the blackish sprinkling sparser; size 0.68 X 0.60 to 0.75 X0.54.. 



