FINCHES, SPARROWS 



(517) Carpodacus purpureus 

 purpureus 



(Gmcl.) {Gi"., Iruit biting; Lat., purple). 



PURPLE FINCH; LINNET. 

 Ad. o'' — Plumage a dull rosy-red, 

 brightest on the head, rump and 

 breast; feathers on the back more 

 or less distinctly centred with dusky; 

 wings and tail dusky, with rosy 

 edgings and white tips to the wing 

 coverts. Ad. 9 andlm. — Brownish- 

 gray, sparrow-like birds; dark above 

 and lighter below, indistinctly 

 streaked with dusky; an indistinct 

 hghter line over the eye. L., 6.25; 

 W., 3.r5; T., 2.40; B., .45. Nest — 

 Of bark, twigs, rootlets, and grasses 

 in evergreen or orchard trees. 



Range — Breeds in northern U. S. 

 and southern Canada. Winters 

 throughout the U. S. 



in the southern half of our country. Their winter wander- 

 ings are guided chiefly by the supply of food. After long, 

 continued cold weather and storms, they often come in 

 great numbers and remain until March or April. They are 

 not at all timid, but do not frequent cities, like Evening 

 Grosbeaks, except in parks, for the reason that they are so 

 very partial to coniferous trees. While they sometimes eat 

 the buds of deciduous trees and also feed upon berries, their 

 staple diet is of cone seeds, varied in summer by numerous 

 insects. 



Living, as they do, in large coniferous forests where they 

 rarely see human beings, it is not strange that they should 

 often nearly allow themselves to be caught in the hands. It 

 is not because they are dull-witted, as some believe, but 

 because they have not been educated to the danger. I have 

 often been asked why we see so many more of these birds 

 in the dull plumage with yellowish crown and rump than 

 we do in the crushed strawberry dress. The answer is 

 very simple: if each pair of birds raises four young, the adult 



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