Evening star., 1944-03-29
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUeH.
BETHESDA, Md.

Dear Sir:
During our last snowstorm a bird I
had never seen before came to our
garden. 1t hooked almcst exactly like
a song sparrow (size, shape and stripes}
but underneath the brown stripes the
whole body was rosy, not bright red
but rosy-red.
1T looked just like a song sparrow
which had been dropped into a child's
red coloring paint. I noticed it first In
our crabapple tree with several gold
fnches, and then it came closer right up
on the window sill where I had put
some dried sunflower seed.
1t appeared to have a slight tuft but
that may have been because its feathers
were wet and bedraggled. The only
picture like it in my birdbook is the
purple finch. However. there was no
purple, just lovely rosy red. I know
you can identify it for me.
Il enjoy your column so much and
would like to hear more about the birds
which will soon be coming back to our
gardens, their habits etc. I wish every
one could have had the pleasure I
nave had this winter with my birds.
very truly, F. D. B."
-
Our correspondents bird is the purple
finch, which definitely is more wine
colored than what is ordinarily meant
by purple.
This fine bird may be seen hereabouts
usually from late October until the
middle of April
Most of the colored illustrations
which we have seen of this bird do
not give good idea OF the colorings
Burroughs suggested it by speaking of
brown bird dipped in pokeberry
juice"
This beautiful color does not come
until the bird is in his third year Be-
fore that he is plain brown sparrow
Mable Osgood Wright, in her Bird
craft" says:
Il think many early ornithologists
who were responsible for the naming
of our birds must have been either
color blind or possessed of very limited
vocabularies, for a modern reading of
many of their color terms means dis
may and total collapse to the unfortu-
nate novice"
Raspberry red is good descriptive
OF this finch, which makes a great
splash at any feeding station.
1t will Immediately attract any OBJ
servers attention, but only when it is
mature. The name purple finch" comes
from one of those early ornitholegists
OF whom Mrs. Wright speaks. The
scientific designation is Carpodacus
purpureus, which means purple fruit
bitter"
eli rrtv hi Al,
'rose-red" and let it go at that.
Common names for it, in addition to
purple finch, the favorite hereabouts,
are purple linnet, purple grosbeak, red
linnet, and gray linnet. The latter re-
fers, of course, to the immature males
and to the females.
The bird is 6A inches long. The bill
is shorter than the head, and rather
thick. While it has no true crest, it
can ruffle the feather on top of its head
to look very crest-like.
1t prefers mountainous regions for
nesting, usually selecting frs for the
nest site. The nest is rather frail look
ing, made of grasses, roots and bark 1t
resembles the nest of the chipping
sparrow, but is larger.
From to greenish- blue eggs,
spotted with brown, are laid. Some
times the eggs have black and lilac
spots mixed in with the brown.
The finch family is justly famous
one. It includes the cardinal, the rose
breasted and evening grosbeaks, the
canary bird in his cage, and the purple
and house f1nches
The house finch of Texas and the
Far West is beauty. He has a red
crown and red mufner, quite dandy
among his plainly colored children.