T H E P U R P L E F I N C H.
FRINGILLA PURPUREA, GMEL.
PLATE IV. MALE AND FEMALE.
•
FROM the beginning of November until April, flocks of the Purple
Finch, consisting of from six to twenty individuals, are seen throughout
the whole of Louisiana and the adjoining States. They fly compactly,
with an undulating motion, similar to that of the Common Greenfinch of
Europe. They alight all at once, and after a moment of rest, and as if
frightened, all take to wing again, make a circuit of no great extent, and
return to the tree from which they had thus started, or settle upon one
near it. Immediately after this, every individual is seen making its way
toward the extremities of the branches, husking the buds with great
tact, and eating their internal portion. In doing this, they hang like so
many Titmice, or stretch out their necks to reach the buds below. Although
they are quite friendly among themselves during their flight, or
while sitting without looking after food, yet, when they are feeding, the
moment one goes near another, it is strenuously warned to keep off by
certain unequivocal marks of displeasure, such as the erection of the
feathers of the head and the opening of the mouth. Should this intimation
be disregarded, the stronger or more daring of the two drives off the
other fo a different part of the tree. They feed in this manner principally
in the morning, and afterwards retire to the interior of the woods.
Towards sunset they reappear, fly about the skirts of the fields and
along the woods, until, having made choice of a tree, they alight, and, as
soon as each bird has chosen a situation, stand still, look about them,
plume themselves, and make short sallies after flies and other insects,
but without interfering with each other. They frequently utter a single
rather mellow clink, and are seen occupied in this manner until near sunset,
when they again fly off to the interior of the forest. I one night
surprised a party of them roosting in a small holly tree, as I happened
to be brushing by it. In their consternation they suddenly started all
together, and in the same direction, when, not knowing what birds they
were, I shot at them and brought down two.
I t is remarkable that, at this season, males in full beauty of plumage
PURPLE FINCH. 2 5
are as numerous as during the summer months in far more northern
parts, where they breed; and you may see different gradations of plumage,
from the dingy greenish-brown of the female and young to the
richest tints of the oldest and handsomest male ; while along with these
there are others which, by my habit of examining birds, I knew to be
old, and which are of a yellowish-green, neither the colour of the young
males, nor that of the females, but a mixture of all.
The song of the Purple Finch is sweet and continued, and I have enjoyed
it much during the spring and summer months, in the mountainous
parts of Pennsylvania, where it occasionally breeds, particularly
about the Great Pine Forest, where, although I did not find any nests,
I saw pairs of these birds flying about and feeding their young, which
could not have been many days out, and were not fully fledged. The
food which they carried to their young consisted of insects, small berries,
and the juicy part of the cones of the spruce pine.
They frequently associate with the Common Cross-bills, feeding on the
same trees, and like them are at times fond of alighting against the mud
used for closing the log-houses. They are seldom seen on the ground,
although their motions there are by no means embarrassed. They are
considered as destructive birds by .some farmers, who accuse them of
committing great depredations on the blossoms of their fruit-trees. I
never observed this in Louisiana, where they remain long after the peach
and pear trees are in full bloom. I have eaten many of them, and consider
their flesh equal to that of any other small bird, excepting the Rice
Bunting.
FRINGILLA PURPUREA, Gmel. Syst. vol. i. p. 923—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 446.
PURPLE FINCH, FRINGILLA PURPUREA, Wilson, Americ. Ornith. vol. i. p. 119,
P I . 7, %. 4. Adult Male; and vol. v. p. 87, P I . 42, fig. 3. Male.
Adult Male. Plate IV. Fig. 1, 2.
Bill shortish, robust, bulging, conical, acute; upper mandible with
its dorsal outline a little convex, under mandible with its outline also
slightly convex, both broadly convex transversely, the edges straight to
near the base, where they are a little deflected. Nostrils basal, roundish,
open, partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large. Neck
short and thick. Body full. Legs of moderate size ; tarsus of the same
length as the middle toe, covered anteriorly with a longitudinal plate