_Carpodacus cassini_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. S. Philad. VII, June, 1854,
119; Birds, N. Am. 1858, 414, pl. xxvii, f. 1.—LORD, Pr. R. A.
Inst. iv, 1864, 119 (Br. Col. between Rocky Mts. and
Cascades).—KENNERLY, P. R. R. X, pl. xxvii, f. 1.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 155.
SP. CHAR. Larger than _C. purpureus_. Bill, .55 of an inch above.
Second and third quills longest; first longer than fourth. _Male._
Above pale grayish-brown, the feathers streaked with darker brown, and
with only an occasional gloss of reddish, except on the crown, which
is uniform deep crimson, and on the rump. Sides of the head and neck,
throat, and upper part of breast with rump, pale rose-color; rest of
under parts white, very faintly and sparsely streaked with brown.
_Female_ without any red, and streaked on the head and under parts
with brown. Length, 6.50; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.60.
HAB. Mountainous regions of Middle Province of United States, from
Rocky Mountains to Sierra Nevada. British Columbia (LORD). City of
Mexico (SCLATER & SALVIN, 1869, 362). Breeds in pine region of Mt.
Orizaba.
This species, though somewhat resembling _C. purpureus_, may be easily
distinguished from it by the streaked lower tail-coverts (of both
sexes), and by the pileum being much more intensely red than any other
portion in the male. The female resembles more in markings that of
_frontalis_, but has an entirely different shaped bill, and is much
larger; the streaks above very conspicuous, instead of nearly
obsolete. The side of the head lacks the conspicuous light and dark
longitudinal areas observable in _purpureus_.
The young of both sexes resemble the adult female, but the streaks are
less sharply defined, and the wing-feathers are broadly edged with
light earth-brown.
In autumn and winter, as in all the other species, the red tints are
softer and more purplish than in spring and summer.
[Illustration: _Carpodacus frontalis._]
HABITS. Cassin’s Purple Finch is the largest of the American birds of
this genus, and is not only conspicuously different from all in size,
but also in other respects. It is found between the great Central
Plains and the coast range of mountains, being one of the common birds
of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Eastern California. Dr. Cooper found
these birds in large numbers about Lake Tahoe in California. They were
all in their brown plumage, and seemed so much like the _C.
californicus_ in their habits that he mistook them for that species.
He noticed in them a very peculiar call-note as they flew, reminding
him of that of _Pyranga_, and quite different from the other
_Carpodaci_. The song of these birds, as he afterwards heard it, was
much louder and finer than that of _C. californicus_, and more
original in style. He is not familiar with their other habits, and has
never met with them in the Colorado Valley. They have been procured
from Fort Thorne, Pueblo Creek, and Alberquerque, New Mexico. Mr.
Ridgway met with these birds in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 26, 1869,
in Parley’s Park, Utah, where he found them breeding. Their nest was
in the top of a cottonwood-tree near the cañon stream, about forty
feet from the ground. It is a soft homogeneous structure, flattened in
shape, and with only a slight depression. It is composed principally
of roots and twigs, lined with softer materials of the same,
interspersed with moss, cotton, and other soft substances. It is two
inches in height with a width of four and a half inches. The cavity is
about an inch deep.
In his Report on the birds of Mr. King’s survey, Mr. Ridgway states
that he found this Linnet in the greatest abundance among the pines of
the Sierra Nevada, near Carson City. It was next seen among the cedars
and nut-pines of the East Humboldt Mountains, and again in the pine
woods and cottonwood-trees along the streams on the Wahsatch
Mountains. It breeds in all these localities, and is in its habits
essentially, though not exclusively, resident among the pines. March
21, 1868, Mr. Ridgway observed flocks of these birds near Carson City.
They were found in every portion of the woods, feeding among the
branches of the pine-trees. They were all in full song, the females as
well as the males. A week later he again found them common among the
isolated pines in the fields at the foot of the Sierras, alighting on
the trees in companies. Their notes resemble the song of the _C.
purpureus_, but are finer and more musical. They have a great
resemblance to the warblings of the _Vireo flavifrons_, but the
passages in its song as much excel those of the Vireo in sweetness as
they are surpassed in richness by the warblings of the latter. When
one of two females of this species had been killed, the survivor,
missing her companion, returned immediately to the tree and hopped
from branch to branch, and then alighted on the ground by the side of
her dead associate, lamenting her in sweet and plaintive cries.
By the 4th of April the pine-trees about Carson City were alive with
these handsome birds, all of whom were in full song. So many were
singing simultaneously that the chorus was almost deafening, yet was
most exquisitely pleasing.
The nests of this bird were found by Mr. Ridgway in various
situations, such as a box-elder bush, the tops of cottonwood and aspen
trees, and similar situations. The eggs, four in number, are in size
.82 by .63 of an inch, oval in shape, pointed at the smaller end, of a
light bluish-green ground, dotted around the larger end with slate,
lilac, and a blackish-brown.
Specimens were obtained by Dr. Sartorius, during the breeding-season
(June, 1864), in the pine forests of Mt. Orizaba. A careful comparison
shows no difference from birds procured in the same month in Nevada.
Carpodacus purpureus, GRAY.