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PURPLE FINCH. 
deepest on the head and chin, and lightest on the lower part 
of the breast; the back is streaked with dusky; the wings and 
tail are also dusky black, edged with reddish; the latter a good 
deal forked; round the base of the bill the recumbent feathers are 
of a light clay or cream colour; belly and vent white; sides under 
the wings streaked with dull reddish; legs a dirty purplish flesh 
colour; bill short, strong, conical, and of a dusky horn colour; iris 
dark hazle; the feathers covering the ears are more dusky red 
than the other parts of the head. This is the male, when arrived 
at its full colours. The female is nearly of the same size, of a 
brown olive or flaxen colour, streaked with dusky black; the 
head seamed with lateral lines of whitish; above and below the 
hind part of the ear feathers, are two streaks of white; the breast 
is whitish, streaked with a light flax colour; tail and wings as in 
the male, only both edged with dull brown instead of red; belly 
and vent white. This is also the colour of the young during the 
first, and to at least the end of the second, season, when the 
males begin to become lighter yellowish, which gradually bright- 
ens to crimson; the female always retains nearly the same ap- 
pearance. The young male bird of the first year may be distin- 
guished from the female by the tail of the former being edged 
with olive green, that of the latter with brown. A male of one 
of these birds which I kept for some time, changed in the month 
of October, from red to greenish yellow, but died before it re- 
covered its former colour. 
N 
