Taken in Spokane. Photo by the Author.
CASSIN’S FINCH.
The sight of a singing male in high plumage is memorable. He selects a position at the tip of a pine branch, or perhaps on a bunch of cones at the very top of the tree, and throws himself into the work. His color, crimson, not purple, is pure and clear upon the crown only; elsewhere, upon nape, shoulders, and breast, it presents merely a suffusion of red. A song heard near Chelan was much like that of a California Purple Finch in character, but less musical and more chattering, with the exception of one strong note thrown in near the close. This note was very like the characteristic squeal of the Evening Grosbeak, gimp, or thkimp, out of all keeping with the remainder—unquestionably borrowed.
The Cassin Finch is quite as successful as a mimic as his cousin from California. Besides his own wild, exultant notes, he rapidly strings together those of other birds, and renders the whole with the spontaneity and something of the accent of the Lark Sparrow. Indeed, when I first heard one sing on a crisp May morning on the banks of the Columbia, I thought I was hearing a rare burst of the latter bird, so much of its song had been appropriated by the Finch. Besides this, strains of Western Vesper Sparrow, Mountain Bluebird, and Louisiana Tanager were recognized.
No. 34.
CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH.
A. O. U. No. 517a. Carpodacus purpureus californicus Baird.
Description.—Adult male: General body plumage rich crimson or rosy red, clearest on crown and upper tail-coverts, more or less mingled with dusky on back and scapulars, passing into white on crissum and under tail-coverts; wings and tail brownish dusky with reddish edgings. Bill and feet brownish. Adult female: Above olive dusky in streaks, with edging or gloss of brighter olivaceous; underparts whitish, everywhere, save on middle abdomen, crissum and under tail-coverts, streaked with olive dusky, finely on throat, broadly on breast and sides, shading into pattern of upperparts on sides of head, neck and chest. Immature male, and male in ordinary(?) plumage: exactly like female in coloration. Length about 5.75 (146); wing 3.07 (78); tail 2.28 (58); bill .45 (11.5); tarsus .70 (17.9).
Recognition Marks.—“Warbler size” but sturdier, an unmistakable sparrow; rosy coloration of male distinctive (without crossed mandibles) but streaky pattern oftenest seen. Distinguishable from the Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) by larger size, more sedate ways and absence of sulphury wing- and tail-markings.
Nesting.—Nest: well built, of fir twigs, heavily lined with green moss, horse-hair, string, etc.; placed in tree (deciduous or evergreen) at elevation of 5-40 feet and usually at some distance from trunk; measures outside 5 in. wide by 3 in. deep, inside 2½ in. wide by 1¼ in. deep. Eggs: 4 or 5, light greenish blue, spotted and streaked with violaceous and black, chiefly about the larger end. Round ovate to elongate ovate; varying in dimensions from .75 × .56 (19 × 14.2) to .91 × .59 (22.8 × 15). Season: first week in May and first week in June; two broods.
General Range.—Pacific coast district from southern California north to British Columbia (including Vancouver Island). More or less resident thruout range but drifts (casually?) to southeastward in Arizona during migrations.
Range in Washington.—West-side, chiefly at lower levels; especially partial to orchards and cultivated sections. Irregularly resident but numbers augmented in spring.
Authorities.—Carpodacus californicus Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 414. T. C&S. L². Rh. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. P. B. BN. E.
Of the streaked, streaky is this demure and inoffensive bird in the olivaceous plumage, in which we usually see him, and always see her. But the sharpness and magnitude of the dusky streaks above and below confer a measure of distinction, even when there is no trace of the adult crimsons, miscalled purple. This finch is a familiar object about the gardens, orchards, and parks in Western Washington. It moves about for the most part silently, inspecting birds and flowers, sampling fruit, or gleaning seeds from the ground in company with its own kind, or with the humbler and equally streaked Siskins. While not altogether dependent upon human bounty, it probably owes more to man than does any other native species.
Wright’s Park, in Tacoma, appears to lead the state by two weeks in the early budding of its flowering plants, and here Purple Finches appear to the best advantage. In the luxuriant bushes of the red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) one may see them feeding during the last week of March. The Finches pluck the flowers assiduously, and either eat the fleshy part at the base, the tender ovary, or else press out the nectar just above, or both. A flower is first plucked off whole and held in the bill, while the bird appears to smack its lips several times; then the crimson corolla is allowed to drop upon the ground, which thus becomes carpeted with rejected beauty. Like many related species, the California Finch is rather unwary, so that one may study his behavior at close range.
Because the Purple Finch is usually so unobtrusive, we are startled at the first outburst of spring song. Nothing more spontaneous could be desired, and the mellow, musical yodelling of this bird is one of the choicest things allowed us on the West-side. The song is midway between a trill and a carol, and has a wild quality which makes it very attractive. The notes are so limpid and penetrating that one is sometimes deceived as to the distance of the singer, supposing him to be in a neighboring copse when, in truth, he occupies a distant fir-top. Cheedooreédooreé dooreé dooreé dooreé dooreé dooreé dreeetoreet may afford an idea of the rolling, rollicking character of the song, but is, of course, absurdly inadequate.
A master singer among the Purple Finches once entertained us from the top of a fir tree a hundred feet high. He was in the dull plumage, that is, without red; and altho he sang briskly at intervals we were not prepared for any unusual exhibition of vocal powers on his part. It was a long time, therefore, before we put the cry of a distant Steller Jay up to him. Our suspicions once aroused, however, we caught not only the Steller jay cry, unmistakably, but also half a dozen others in swift and dainty succession, after the usual Purple Finch prelude. I clearly recognized notes of the Flicker, Steller Jay, Canary, American Crossbill, and Seattle Wren. These imitative efforts varied in correctness of execution, and came to us with the distance of the original singer plus that of the Finch, so that the result was not a little confusing, tho very delightful when explained.
During courtship this Finch will execute an aerial song-dance, consisting of sundry jerks and crazy antics, interspersed with a medley of ecstatic notes; at the conclusion of which he will make a suggestive dive at his fianceé, who meanwhile has been poking fun at him.