275 
Cassin’s Finch, the Purple can be distinguished only by attention to small details. The 
crown of the adult male is solid rosy, but not as bright as in Cassin’s and it blends into the 
nape without forming a definite cap. In other plumages, the olive is of a slightly darker 
shade, and the streakings below are softer. The undertail coverts are generally unstreaked, 
or at least never so sharply, and the bird is appreciably smaller. A bird, though within the 
normal range of Casein's Pinch, with a wing of 3 *3 inches or under, is probably this species. 
Field Marks. Size, general colour of adult male, like a small Pine Grosbeak. General 
olive and white striping below of female and juvenile. Probably not separable with cer- 
tainty from Cassin's Finch in life. That species, however, may be expected in Canada 
only in southern British Columbia east of the Coast range, where the Purple Finch does 
not regularly occur. 
Nesting. In coniferous trees; nest of twigs, grass, and rootlets. 
Distribution. Most of North America. In Canada, most of the wooded area, except 
British Columbia, east of the Coast range. Migrates south through the prairies. 
SUBSPECIES. The form occurring throughout most of Canada is the Eastern 
Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus purpureus. On the west coast of southern British 
Columbia occurs the Calif omia Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus calif omicus. Its 
chief distinctions from the eastern race are: slightly smaller average size, more even color- 
ation, and less striping in the red male, and a greener olive in the female. 
The Purple Finch, so called, is not “purple” in the ordinaiy use of the 
term. “Magenta” would better describe it in modern terminology, but 
it has lately been said that the colour is really “purple” in the original 
application of the word. It is one of our finest songsters and is occasionally 
caged for that purpose. Like its allies, the Pine Grosbeak and the Cross- 
bills, when kept in captivity it loses the bright redness of its plumage and 
assumes a ruddy yellow, so peculiar and characteristic that escaped caged 
birds can be recognized at sight. The song is a continued and clear warble 
like that of a Warbling Vireo, but more rapidly delivered. The young 
male in the autumn sings almost as well as the adult. 
Economic Status. The Purple Finch eats largely of buds and fruit. 
The fruit eaten is generally trifling, as the bird retires from the borders 
to less cultivated sections in the breeding season and is not numerous in 
summer in fruit-growing sections. The fruits it takes are, therefore, mostly 
waste winter left-overs or wild forms, and it is specially fond of mountain-ash 
or rowan-berries. The charge that it eats buds is more serious, but so 
far has been based upon general assertions not substantiated by results of 
stomach examinations. 
518. Cassin’s Finch, cassin’s purple finch. Carpodacus cassini. L, 6*75. 
Almost exactly similar to the Purple Finch (Plate LI B) . 
Distinctions. To be seriously confused only with the Purple Finch, and then only 
in the southern interior of British Columbia. Distinguished from that species by small 
details: the crown of the red male is a brighter, more crimson, red and forms a definite 
cap, and the body is pinker. In other plumages, the olive is of a slightly greyer shade, more 
of an earth brown, and the streakings below are sharper and better defined. The under- 
tail coverts are always sharply centre-streaked, and the bird is appreciably larger than the 
Purple Finch. A Purple Finch with wing over 3*3 is probably this species. Otherwise, 
the male has a general resemblance to the Pine Grosbeak, but is considerably smaller, ana 
various plumages may suggest those of the Crossbills although the mandibles are not 
crossed (Compare Figure 261), and the bird is slightly larger. 
Field Marks. Size, general colour of adult, like a small Pine Grosbeak. General 
olive and white streakiness of the female and juvenile. Probably not separable from the 
Purple Finch in life, except on geographical considerations. 
Nesting. In coniferous trees; nest of twigs, grass, and rootlets. 
Distribution. Western North America. In Canada, regularly found only in the 
southern interior of British Columbia, east of the Coast range. It thus fills the gap between 
the Eastern Purple Finch of the prairies and the California Purple Finch of the coast; a 
distinct but closely allied species interposed between the ranges of two allied subspecies. 
V1054 — 18J 
