PURPLE FINCH 



October i, i8q$ 

 April, i8q6 



ELMHURST has never yielded a single 

 example of this bird, as far as I have 

 yet discovered. I saw my first specimens 

 in Lake Forest, John Ferry pointing them 

 out to me. There was quite a flock of 

 them feeding on the seeds of the ironwood 

 trees. They were all in sparrowy dress, 

 without the reddish hue they acquire later 

 in the year. Their manners resemble those 

 of the grosbeak, and they reminded me 

 of the way that bird twists about after 

 food, and almost crawls over the branches 

 like a parrot. They look like small edi- 

 tions of the female rose-breasted. The 

 thick bills and deeply forked tails of these 

 finches aid in identifying them. In April, 

 1896, I saw them again in Lake Forest, 

 this time the males had their rosy colors. 



May, 1 goo. Am sure I heard the song, 

 so loud and melodious, a little like the 

 warbling vireo's; did not see the bird, but 

 heard the song several times. 



April, igoi. Heard the song numbers 

 of times and saw the birds, later heard 



[8o] 



