CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH. Carpodacus purpureus californicus Baird

Field characters.—Size of a Junco (length 5-1/2 inches); tail shorter than body, end decidedly notched (fig. 50a). Male: Top of head, rump, and lower surface of body from chin to breast, dull purplish red; belly whitish, unstreaked; rest of plumage dark brown, more or less tinged with red. Female: Entirely lacking red, the plumage above grayish brown (tinged with greenish) and the under surface broadly streaked with dark brown. (See pl. 7c, d). Voice: Song of male a rapid rolling warble lasting about two seconds and repeated at irregular intervals; both sexes give a low one-syllabled call note, pert.

Occurrence.—Moderately common summer visitant to Transition Zone on west slope of Sierra Nevada; descends to foothill region (Upper Sonoran Zone) for the winter. Observed at Smith Creek (in June and July), at Hazel Green (May), in Yosemite Valley (May to August), at El Portal (October to December), and at Pleasant Valley and Lagrange (both in December). In pairs or in small flocks.

Three finches occur in the Yosemite region which comprise a distinct group with conspicuous red in the male coloration. These are the California Linnet of the lower valleys and western foothills, the Cassin Purple Finch of the higher mountains, and the California Purple Finch of middle altitudes, the subject of the present chapter. The California Purple Finch is the species most likely to be seen by the average visitor to the Yosemite region, for it is the one to be found on the floor of Yosemite Valley during the summer months, and, in the winter season, it is abundant at El Portal, the main entrance to the Park. It is noteworthy as being the only migratory member of the group, both of the others being practically resident in their respective ranges throughout the year. The name purple finch, as applied to two of these birds, refers to the color of the plumage of the adult males, which is the ancient reddish, or Tyrian, purple. To most persons, however, this name is misleading, for the tone is not purple in the sense of violet. The females and young males are much duller colored than the old males, altogether lacking the red.

In both of the purple finches the tail is notched or indented at the end (emarginate), while that of the linnet is practically square ended (fig. 50); and these respective characters of the tail are shared by both sexes and all ages so that they become satisfactory field marks when the observer finds himself in a position to use them. Old male purple finches have the whole crown of the head red while in the male linnet the crown is brown, the red being restricted to a band across the forehead and along the sides of the head. Male purple finches in the 'purple' plumage are unstreaked beneath, while the male linnet, of more carmine hue, has the belly and flanks marked with narrow longitudinal streaks of brown. Contrasting the two purple finches, now, one with the other, the California is seen to be somewhat smaller than the Cassin, and whereas the male of the former has the red on the breast and rump of practically the same shade as the color of the head, in the latter species those areas are decidedly paler, more pinkish, than the crown. The female California has a greenish yellow tinge to the plumage, while the female Cassin is in mass effect ashy gray. (See pl. 7.)

Fig. 50. Tail of (a) California Purple Finch and of (b) California Linnet, showing the "notching" in the tail of the former: a useful field characteristic for distinguishing these rather similar species. Natural size.

The two purple finches in common differ further from the linnet in that the male birds take more than one year to acquire the red plumage. In the early spring months one finds certain purple finches (both California and Cassin) in a plumage which looks like that of the adult female. But these birds sing typical male songs, and when any are collected they are found to be males in breeding condition. The ordinary supposition is that the male birds do not attain the red coloring until the second fall after they are hatched, that is, when they are about fifteen months old. Male linnets on the other hand acquire the red at the first fall molt, when they are but three or four months old.

The California Purple Finch is regularly migratory in the Yosemite region. During the summer months the species is restricted closely to the Transition Zone. It is then to be seen in fair numbers on the floor of Yosemite Valley. Thus, on May 31, 1915, a 4-hour census there revealed 6 singing males. The latest date upon which the species was observed by us in the Valley was August 19 (1915), but it undoubtedly occurs there somewhat later. In the fall and winter the bird descends to the foothill country; we have found it then at El Portal, at Pleasant Valley, and even at Lagrange. At the first-named place the species was seen on October 7 (1914), and on the one day of December 7 the same year more than a hundred of the birds were seen there. At the lower stations only a small number of these birds were recorded, and not until December. They leave Pleasant Valley before the end of February.

Purple finches are never found in large flocks as are linnets. Small bands numbering at most a dozen birds seem to be the rule. They forage largely in the terminal foliage of trees or bushes where they seek the buds or fruits. At times they descend to open ground to forage. We do not recall having seen them in pure chaparral. At El Portal in December the birds were giving attention almost exclusively to the scattering bushes of Rhamnus californicus, the coffee-berry or cascara, the fruits of which were being eagerly eaten. When willows come into blossom the purple finches are accustomed to visit these trees and feed on portions of the catkins as well as on the buds. At Dudley on July 21, 1920, California Purple Finches were feeding on the fruits of the manzanita (Arctostaphylos mariposa), and the plumage on the head and breast of a bird collected was gummy from contact with the sticky coating on the berries.

On December 2, 1914, a company of about 15 California Purple Finches was seen gathered about a small quiet willow-bordered pool near the Merced River at El Portal. There in company with Sierra Juncos and brown towhees they were bathing and then coming out on the adjoining shrubbery to dry and preen their feathers. The purple finches were notably quiet, not singing at all and only occasionally uttering a few simple call notes. The purple finch does not sing so continuously or through such a long season as does the linnet. Indeed the former is a characteristically quiet bird, quite in contrast to its loquacious lowland relative. At Dudley, in 1920, one was heard in song as late as July 15.