Youngsters
get to know the young hero and the adventures
that carry him toward manhood. As they come to know Jeremiah as a friend who would
understand their own growing pains, they look forward to each book in the
series.
Teachers
will Achieve..
Teachers will appreciate the ways
that Jeremiah Stokely novels, kits, and activities make literature
meaningful to children. Teachers can download free classroom idea
packets to hold a hand-on workshop based on each book.
Click the >Play button
to listen to the bird's song!
Purple Finch (Carpodacus
purpureas)
Length 6 in., wingspan 10 in., Family Fringillidae
Like their cousins the House Finches, males and
females of this species have very different plumage. The female resembles a
sparrow, brown with white underside heavily streaked with brown. The male is
brown, too, but his plumage is topped by raspberry-rose on head, chest, and
rump. (See House Finch for a Tip on how to tell these two
species apart.)
Purple Finches are found in the eastern half of the
U.S., year-round in the New England states, but only during winter
elsewhere. They spend summers in Canada. Another population of Purple
Finches lives in a narrow region along the Pacific Coast from California to
Canada.
This species inhabits open woods. Its diet consists almost entirely of
the parts of plants. During the summer, it eats ripe berries such as
blackberries, cherries, and strawberries. During the fall and winter, it
eats seeds. In spring, it eats buds from fruit trees and also insects.
The male purple finch performs a courtship dance for
the female, dangling his wings, then beating them faster and faster. He
sings a variety of songs during the dance. The female builds a nest on a
tree branch and lines it with fine grass, horsehair, bristles, even snake
skin. She incubates, or warms, the four or five pale greenish-blue eggs by
sitting on them for two weeks until they hatch. During this time, the male
brings her food because she cannot leave the nest. Both parents feed the
young once they hatch.
The
Purple Finch is the state bird of New Hampshire.
