530 
GRANIYOROUS BIRDS. 
Sp. Charact,- — Crimson, deepest on the head and throat; wings 
and emarginate tail, dusky, the back spotted with the same ; belly 
partly white. — Female and young varied with pale brown and 
dusky, without crimson ; beneath yellowish-white, spotted with 
dusky brown. 
This brilliant and cheerful songster inhabits the North- 
ern and Western States during the summer, where it 
pairs and rears its young. They have been observed also 
in Missouri territory by Mr. Say, and probably extend their 
residence far to the North. They appear to have a great 
predilection for resinous evergreens, pine and spruce, 
and feed upon the berries of the juniper and red cedar, ^ 
as well as the seeds of the tulip-tree, f and others ; they 
likewise frequent gardens for the same purpose, and are 
particularly pleased with sun-flower seeds and other oily 
kinds. When reduced to necessity, they are observed to 
eat the buds of the beech, and those of the fruit trees, 
probably for the sake of the stamens contained in them, 
of which they are greedy when displayed in the opening 
blossoms. The stipules of the expanding buds of the elm, 
which are sweet and mucilaginous, in the spring, also 
make a common part of their fare. Their food, in sum- 
mer, however, consists principally of insects, and juicy 
berries, as those of the honeysuckle and others. 
Although the Purple Finch breeds and passes the sea- 
son in this vicinity, yet as early as the close of Septem- 
ber they leave us for the South ; about which time, and 
nearly to the close of October, small, hungry, roving 
flocks arrive from the more Northern States, and Can- 
ada, or Newfoundland. At the same time likewise great 
numbers visit Pennsylvania, the maritime parts of New 
York and New Jersey, and many pass the winter in the 
Middle States ; while others proceed as far south as the 
states of Louisiana and Florida, returning north in the 
* Juniperus virginiana. 
| Lyriodendron tulipifera. 
