PURPLE FINCH. 297 



Genus CARPODACUS Kaup. 

 CARPODACUS PURPUREUS (Gmel.). 



212. Purple Finch. (517) 



Male : — Crimson, rosy or purplish-red, most intense on the crown, fading 

 to white on the belly, mixed with dusky streaks on the back ; wings and tail, 

 dusky, with reddish edgings, and the wing coverts tipped with the same ; 

 lores and feathers all round the base of the bill, hoary. Female and young 

 with no red ; olivaceous-brown, brighter on the rump, the feathers above all 

 with paler edges, producing a streaked appearance ; below, white, thickly 

 spotted and streaked with olive-brown, except on the middle of the belly and 

 under tail coverts ; obscure whitish superciliary and maxillary lines. Young 

 males show every gradation between these extremes in gradually assuming 

 the male plumage, and are frequently brownish-yellow or bronzy below. 

 Length, 5|-6i ; wing, 3-3i ; tail, 2J-2i. 



Hab. — Eastern North America, from the Atlantic coast to the Plains. 

 Breeds from the Middle States northward. 



Nest, usually but not always in an evergreen, composed of weeds, grass, 

 strips of bark, vegetable fibre, etc., lined with hair. 



Eggs, four or five, pale green, scrawled and spotted with dark brown and 

 lilac, chiefly toward the larger end. 



In Southern Ontario the Purple Finch is most abundant during 

 the month of May. At this season the few which have remained 

 with us during the winter put on their brightest dress, and being 

 joined by others which are daily arriving from the south, they make 

 the orchards for a time quite lively with their sprightly song. Their 

 presence, however, could well be dispensed with, for they are observed 

 at this time to be very destructive to the buds and blossoms of fruit 

 trees. As the season advances, they become generally distributed 

 over the country and are not so often seen. 



The male does not acquire the bright crimson dress till after the 

 second season. The young male, in the garb of the female, being 

 obsen^ed in full song has led to the belief that both sexes sing alike, 

 but such is not the case. Crimson Finch would have been a more 

 appropriate name for this bird than Purple Finch, for the color is 

 certainly more crimson than purple. 



It breeds sparingly in Southern Ontario, but many go farther 

 north. It is common during summer in Manitoba, beyond which 

 I have not heard of it having been observed. It remains quite 

 late in the fall ; and, occasionally, I have seen stragglers in the 

 depth of winter. In Ontario the species can at no time be said to 

 be abundant. 



