Home › Volumes › Bird Homes › Open Nests in Trees, Bushes, and Vines
Purple Finch
Adult Male--Rosy purple or reddish, with more or less brown, and on the belly white.
Adult Female--Brownish, streaked with black on the back; under parts whitish, with spots of dark brownish gray. Length--6.22.
Breeding Range--The northern United States (including Long Island, New York), northward.
The rather shallow nest is composed of fine twigs, roots, thin strips of bark, tendrils, grass, and lined with grass and hairs. It is usually placed in evergreen trees, at a height of from about six to twenty or thirty feet from the ground. The eggs, numbering from 4 to 6 (Chapman), are pale blue or greenish, with faint purple and dark brown spots or small blotches. Size--.80 x .60. Plate D.
As a songster, the Purple Finch is known principally in New England and the other States that border on Canada. By the time he arrives in the vicinity of New York City his song is almost gone; nothing but a soft warble remains to remind one of the beautifully mellow song of the mating season. The nests are built towards the end of May, and frequently two broods are reared. Care should be taken that the female is not mistaken for a sparrow, her colouring and shape making such a mistake quite possible.