THE PURPLE FINCH. 171 



alight all at once, and after a moment of rest, and as if frightened, all take to 

 wing again, make a circuit of no great extent, and return to the tree from 

 which they had thus started, or settle upon one near it. Immediately after 

 this, every individual is seen making its way toward the extremities of the 

 branches, husking the buds with great tact, and eating their internal portion. 

 In doing this, they hang like so many Titmice, or stretch out their necks to 

 reach the buds below. Although they are quite friendly among themselves 

 during their flight, or while sitting without looking after food, yet, when 

 they are feeding, the moment one goes near another, it is strenuously warned 

 to keep off by certain unequivocal marks of displeasure, such as the erection 

 of the feathers of the head and the opening of the mouth. Should this 

 intimation be disregarded, the stronger or more daring of the two drives off 

 the other to a different part of the tree. They feed in this manner princi- 

 pally in the morning, and afterwards retire to the interior of the woods. 

 Towards sunset they reappear, fly about the skirts of the fields and along 

 the woods, until, having made choice of a tree, they alight, and, as soon as 

 each bird has chosen a situation, stand still, look about them, plume them- 

 selves, and make short sallies after flies and other insects, but without inter- 

 fering with each other. They frequently utter a single rather mellow clink, 

 and are seen occupied in this manner until near sunset, when they again fly 

 off to the interior of the forest. I one night surprised a party of them 

 roosting in a small holly tree, as I happened to be brushing by it. In their 

 consternation they suddenly started all together, and in the same direction, 

 when, not knowing what birds they were, I shot at them and brought down 

 two. 



It is remarkable that, at this season, males in full beauty of plumage are 

 as numerous as during the summer months in far more northern parts, where 

 they breed; and you may see different gradations of plumage, from the 

 dingy greenish-brown of the female and young to the richest tints of the 

 oldest and handsomest male; while along with these there are others which, 

 by my habit of examining birds, I knew to be old, and which are of a 

 yellowish-green, neither the colour of the young males, nor that of the 

 females, but a mixture of all. 



The song of the Purple Finch is sweet and continued, and I have enjoyed 

 it much during the spring and summer months, in the mountainous parts of 

 Pennsylvania, where it occasionally breeds, particularly about the Great 

 Pine Forest, where, although I did not find any nests, I saw pairs of these 

 birds flying about and feeding their young, which could not have been many 

 days out, and were not fully fledged. The food which they carried to their 

 young consisted of insects, small berries, and the juicy part of the cones of 

 the spruce pine. 



