NAMES: Cassin's Purple Finch, Cassin's Linnet. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: CARPODACVS CASSINI Baird (1854). 



DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Top of head, bright crimson; back and scapulars, pinkish-brown, the feathers 

 edged with light grayish and streaked medially with dusky; rump, nearly uniform dull pinkish; 

 throat and breast, pale dull rose-pink; rest of lower parts, white, the sides scarcely tinged with 

 pinkish, and lower tail-coverts conspicuously streaked with dusky. Adult female: Above, olive- 

 grayish, streaked with dusky ; sides of head, nearly uniform grayish-olive, finely streaked with dusky; 

 lower parts, white,- conspicuously streaked with dusky. 



Length, 6.50 to 6.75 inches; wing, 3.60 to 3.95; tail, 2.60 to 3.00 inches." (Ridgway.) 



HOUSE FINCH. 



Carpoaacus mexicanus frontalis Ridgway. 



Plate XX. Fig. 6. 



^^^ VERY highminded man is a friend, a true friend of the birds, and ever has been. 

 ^^^ There is a tie between him and these beautiful feathered beings, who enliven our 

 gardens, w^oods, meadows, and fields, a tie which grows stronger w^itli time and closer 

 acquaintance. This affection w^hich he feels for them, is to some extent an inheritance 

 coming down from earlier, long past days ; for before the scientist looked into the ways 

 of these w^inged favorites, the poet and the simple minded peasant had long observed 

 and loved these companions of their country solitude. The one as well as the other 

 looked at the birds with the eyes of a child, admired the grace and the beauty of 

 plumage, in mind even accompanied them over hill and dale, over land and sea, the one 

 devoted to them verse and song, the other showed them hospitality, gladly received 

 them in and about his dwelling place, and could not withstand the temptation to bring 

 them even into captivity in order to enjoy their presence. Such are the ties that con- 

 tinue in undiminished form even to the present day. 



The special favorites of man among the birds are those who take up thei'r abode 

 habitually in the garden and in or near his buildings. None are more loved, none find 

 a heartier welcome when they return home from their winter-quarters, than the familiar 

 Barn Swallows, the merry Purple Martins, the lively Wrens, the amiable Bluebirds, the 

 bright colored Baltimore Orioles, the loud-voiced Robins, the melodious Catbirds, 

 the plain-colored, sweet-voiced Song Sparrows, the Canary-Hke Goldfinch, and other 

 familiar birds. The earliest arrivals, the true harbingers of spring, inspire even indif- 

 ferent people with joy and happiness. In the South no other bird is such a universal 

 favorite as the many-tongued, unrivalled Mockingbird. In the West the House Finch, 

 House Linnet, also called California House Finch, and by the Mexicans, Burion, is one 

 of the loveliest and most confiding birds. Occurring from the 40° south into Mexico, 

 and from New Mexico west to the Pacific, the House Finches are common birds in 

 New Mexico, In Arizona, California, and Nevada. Wherever they occur, these beautiful 



