310 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
KEY TO ADULT MALE CARPODACUS. 
1. Tail emarginate. 
2 . Top of head strikingly brighter than rump. 
3. Under tail coverts conspicuously streaked . . . casaim, p. 311. 
3'. Under tail coverts not conspicuously streaked. Eastern United 
States. purpureus, p. 310. 
2'. Top of head about color of rump .... californicus, p. 310. 
1'. Tail even. 
2. Wings longer, feet smaller.frontalis, p. 312. 
2'. Wings shorter, feet larger. dementis, p. 313. 
Subgenus Carpodacus. 
517. Carpodacus purpureus (Gmel.). Purple Finch. 
Like C. p. californicus , but wing lunger, tail shorter ; adult male lighter, 
rump paler, upper parts less uniform; adult female lighter, less uniform, 
and less greenish. 
Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding from Hudson Bay to 
Pennsylvania; in winter south to Gulf coast; accidental in Colorado. 
Mr. Anthony shot a female purple finch at Denver, Nov. 15, 1885. 
517a. Carpodacus purpureus californicus Baird. Califor¬ 
nia Purple Finch. 
Adult male. — Upper parts dark dull madder pink, wine purple on head 
and paler, more pinkish on rump ; back streaked; under parts 
lighter rose pink and fading to unstreaked white on middle of 
belly and under tail coverts; sides and flanks usually strongly 
washed with brownish and broadly streaked with darker ; tail 
much shorter than wing, deeply emarginate. Adult female: 
upper parts olivaceous, heavily streaked with brown; under 
parts whitish, narrowly streaked ; side of head with white stripe crossing 
brown of ear coverts and side of throat. Young: similar to female, but 
colors duller and markings less distinct, edgings of wing feathers more 
buffy or tawny. Male: length (skins), 5.20-6.10, wing 3.03-3.20, tail 2.28- 
2.43, bill .42-.49. Female: length (skins) 5.09-5.84, wing 2.95-3.10, tail 
2.10-2.33, bill .41-49. 
Remarks. — The male California finch may be distinguished from the 
house finch by its under parts, which are streaked only on the sides. It 
differs from the Cassin finch in having crown and rump about the same 
color, and the back not strikingly streaked. The female California differs 
from the female house finch in being strongly olivaceous above, and having 
a white stripe on the side of the head through the brown area, and its 
tail much shorter than wing, and deeply emarginate. The female Cassin 
is more sharply streaked on the back with darker brown streaks. 
Distribution. — Breeds in mountains in Transition and Upper Sonoran 
zones of the Pacific coast region, from British Columbia south; migrates 
to southern California and Arizona. 
Nest. — A rather thin, flat structure, composed largely of fine rootlets and 
grasses, placed on horizontal branches of trees. Fggs: 2 to 4, greenish blue, 
or bluish green, finely speckled on larger end with black and dark brown. 
The California purple finch is a bird of higher breeding range and 
less domestic nature than its relative the house finch. In central 
California, Mr. Belding says, it is common from 3000 to 5000 feet in 
summer, though of course it comes lower in winter. In Los Angeles 
Fig. 395. 
