More brown on back; and wings
and tail, which are dusky, have some reddish brown feathers.
Underneath grayish white. Bill heavy. Tail forked.
Female -- Grayish olive brown above; whitish below; finely
Streaked everywhere with very dark brown, like a sparrow. Sides
of breast have arrow-shaped marks. Wings and tail darkest.
Range -- North America, from Columbia River eastward to Atlantic
and from Mexico northward to Manitoba. Most common in Middle
States and New England. Winters south of Pennsylvania.
Migrations -- March. November. Common summer resident. Rarely
individuals winter at the north.
In this "much be-sparrowed country" of ours familiarity is apt to breed
contempt for any bird that looks sparrowy, in which case one of the most
delicious songsters we have might easily be overlooked. It is not until the
purple finch reaches maturity in his second year that his plumage takes on the
raspberry-red tints that some ornithologists named purple. Oriental purple is
our magenta, it is true, but not a raspberry shade. Before maturity, but for
the yellow on his lower back and throat, he and his mate alike suggest a
song-sparrow; and it is important to note their particularly heavy, rounded
bills, with the tufts of feathers at the base, and their forked tails, to name
them correctly.
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