Susceptibility of a Bird to Color. — A curious case of this affec- 
tion is reported to me by Mr. George F. Crook, of Cambridge, Mass. 
Wi I have a caged Red Linnet {Carpodacus purpureus), now about two 
years old — a cheerful fellow, unless anything blue should be presented 
to him or placed near him. Should either my wife or daughter — with 
whom he is on the best of terms — come near him with a blue dress, 
ribbon, or handkerchief, he becomes terribly excited and utters painful 
cries. No other color affects him in this way. About a year ago he 
escaped from his cage and was away nine days ; his cage hung outside, 
and he returned to it in a very dilapidated condition. Had he been 
frightened by some Blue Jay? If not, what can be the cause of his 
‘ blue-craze ’ ? ” 
While we cannot explain the facts, we have no doubt the cause is 
farther to seek than any such accident. The effect of colors upon animals 
— as red upon a bull or turkey-cock — is a perfectly well-known fact, 
though one not satisfactorily accounted for. 
This recalls a very curious case once brought to my professional notice, 
of a little child with some obscure nervous affection of the eyes, which 
rendered him painfully sensitive to light. This child delighted in 
anything blue, and the mental impressibility was so great that it was 
transferred from color to sound. There is a very strange connection, as 
musicians well know, between the two kinds of impressions derived from 
light-vibrations and sound-waves. The mother of the child could always 
soothe and please it by singing or playing “ blue music,” as it is called; 
while a few notes of “ red music” sufficed to make the child cry out as if 
in great distress, and if continued, almost threw it into convulsions. 
As if the bird’s case were not already sufficiently curious and obscure, 
Mr. Crook Inter informed me that when his blue- crazed Red Linnet 
moulted, as it did last fall, not a single red feather showed itself; the 
former red feathers all came out yellow, as is so frequently the case with 
these red birds when moulting in confinement. If Carpodacus could only 
tell us, now, all he knows about the three primary colors, and express it 
in the music of his song! — Elliott Co(jes, Washington , D. C. 
Bull NiO.O, 3 , July. 1883 , P, /*”/• 
Feeding-habits" o?^ur^e iFinSes.— ^Sie following interesting obser- 
vations on the manner in which Purple Finches {Carpodacus purpureas') 
feed their young are communicated by Mrs. A. C. Davenport, of Brattleboro, 
Vt. She writes: “During the time the young were in the nest the 
parents came continually to my window for hemp seed, eating rapidly 
for ten minutes at a time. They then usually sipped a little water, flew 
away, and returned in a few moments. 
“As soon as the young left the nest, they were brought to my window? 
and until they could care for themselves, or until anew brood was raised, 
were still fed by the food being ejected from the crops of the parent birds. 
“ I never saw any live food given them, though I watched closely, but 
of course I cannot say decidedly of this. Neither did I see the old birds 
‘budding’ any during this period.” — Frank M. Chapman, American 
Museum of Natural History , New York City. 
Correspondence. 
Purple Finch. — {C arpodacus pe rpureus ), C. E. Prior 
asks ns why the Purple Finch is so called. The origin of 
the misnomer is probably correctly given by Stearns, (New 
England Bird Life, part 1, p. 216). “There is little, if any 
“purple” tinge, the name “Purple” Finch, and the use of 
the word in old descriptions, having been due to the very 
faulty coloring of Catesby’s plate.” Q,& O. IX, July. 1884 . p, ‘jo- 
lt it- a : 
r , 
- 62 ~ I — 1 
, — . &z. 0 
Volo 38 
t 
1291. Midtv inter Appearance of the Linnet {Carpodacus purpureus), 
at Halifax , N S. By J. Matthew Jones. Ibid., No. 2, Feb. 3, p. 24. & StreaXEU ‘VOl.XXVIII * 
^ 53 * The Purple Finch and his Cousins. I. Caipodacus purpureus. 
By Dr. Elliott Coues. Ibid., No. 20, pp. 385, 386.— Biographv of the 
species. 'For. 3s Btreazc, Vol.XXJ 
