_Carpodacus_, KAUP, “Entw. Europ. Thierw. 1829.” (Type, _Loxia
erythrina_, PALL.)
_Erythrospiza_, BONAPARTE, Saggio di una dist. met. 1831.
_Hæmorrhous_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 295. (Type, _Fringilla
purpurea_, GMELIN.)
[Line drawing: _Carpodacus frontalis._
796 ♂]
CHAR. Bill short, stout, vaulted; the culmen decurved towards the end;
the commissure nearly straight to the slightly decurved end. A slight
development of bristly feathers along the sides of the bill,
concealing the nostrils. Tarsus shorter than the middle toe; lateral
claws reaching to the base of the middle one. Claw of hind toe much
curved, smaller than the middle one, and rather less than the digital
portion. Wings long and pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail,
which is considerably shorter than the wing, and moderately forked.
Colors red, or red and brown. _Female_ with the red replaced by brown.
The genus _Carpodacus_, including the American Purple Finches, is
composed of species the males of which are more or less red in full
plumage, while the females are brown-streaked. They are spread over
North America, and species also occur in considerable numbers in
Northern Europe and Asia.
Species and Varieties.
A. Culmen only slightly curved. Tail and wing feathers edged
with reddish in the male.
_a._ ♂. Crown much brighter purple than the rump or throat. ♀.
Without lighter superoral and maxillary stripes, the whole head
being pretty uniformly streaked.
1. C. cassini. ♂. Crown bright crimson; rest of head,
breast, rump, etc., much lighter purple-pink; _lower
tail-coverts with a shaft line of dusky. Hab._ Mountain
regions of the Middle Province, south, through the
table-lands and alpine regions of Mexico, to Mirador.
_b._ ♂. Crown scarcely brighter purple than the rump or throat.
♀. With conspicuous superoral and maxillary stripes.
2. C. purpureus. Crown purple; rest of head, breast, rump,
etc., nearly similar in tint; _lower tail-coverts_ without
dusky shaft-lines.
Purple tints of a rosy carmine cast; first quill longer
than the fourth. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America …
var. _purpureus_.
Purple tints of a darker purplish-rose cast; first quill
shorter than the fourth. _Hab._ Pacific Province of North
America … var. _californicus_.
B. Culmen much curved. Tail and wing feathers edged with
grayish in the male.
3. C. frontalis. ♂. A frontal and superciliary band of
crimson; a patch of same on the rump, and another on the
throat and jugulum; abdomen and crissum streaked with dusky.
♂. Red restricted to the portions mentioned above.
Red of an intense carmine tint, sharply defined, and
strictly restricted within the limits indicated. _Hab._
Plateau of Mexico … var. _hæmorrhous_.[109]
Red of a lighter carmine, and with a greater or less
tendency to escape its boundaries. _Hab._ Middle Province
of the United States … var. _frontalis_.
♂. Red not restricted, but spread over the crown, tingeing
the back and other portions, excepting wings and tail.
Red tint varying from scarlet to wine-red. _Hab._ Pacific
Province of United States, including the peninsula of
Lower California … var. _rhodocolpus_.
Carpodacus cassini, BAIRD.