I would make a chart of our life,
know why just this circle of creatures completes the world.
Observe all kinds of coincidences,
as what kinds of birds come with what flowers.
Henry Thoreau, April 18, 1852
I hear the clear loud
whistle of a purple finch
from the Whiting's elm.
Splendid purple finch –
its glowing redness revealed
when it lifts its wings.
April 12, 1856
The arrival of the purple finches
appears to be coincident with
the blossoming of the elm,
on whose blossom it feeds.
April 3. Going down-town this morning, I am surprised by the rich strain of the purple finch from the elms. Three or four have arrived and lodged against the elms of our street, which runs east and west across their course, and they are now mingling their loud and rich strains with that of the tree sparrows, robins, bluebirds, etc. The hearing of this note implies some improvement in the acoustics of the air. It reminds me of that genial state of the air when the elms are in bloom. They sit still over the street and make a business of warbling. They advertise me surely of some additional warmth and serenity. How their note rings over the roofs of the village! You wonder that even the sleepers are not awakened by it to inquire who is there, and yet probably not another than myself in all the town observes their coming, and not half a dozen ever distinguished them in their lives. April 3, 1858
April 4. Methinks I heard the purple finch. The birds are eager to sing, as the flowers to bloom, after raw weather has held them in check. April 4, 1860
April 6. The Ulmus Americana is apparently just out here, or possibly yesterday. The U. fulva not yet, of course. The large rusty blossom-buds of the last have been extensively eaten and mutilated, probably by birds, leaving on the branches which I examine mostly mere shells. April 6, 1858
April 7. The Cheney elm looks as if it would shed pollen to-morrow. April 7, 1859
April 7. The purple finch, — if not before. April 7, 1860
April 9. Elm blossoms now in prime. Their tops heavier against the sky, a rich brown; their outlines further seen. April 9 1853
April 10. Cheney elm, many anthers shed pollen, probably 7th. April 10, 1860
April 10. Purple Finch. April 10, 1861
April 11. I hear the clear, loud whistle of a purple finch, somewhat like and nearly as loud as the robin, from the elm by Whiting's. April 11, 1853
April 12. Still falls a little snow and rain this morning, though the ground is not whitened. I hear a purple finch, nevertheless, on an elm, steadily warbling and uttering a sharp chip from time to time. April 12, 1855
April 12. There suddenly flits before me . . . a splendid purple finch. Its glowing redness is revealed when it lifts its wings. April 12, 1856
April 12. Elm bud-scales have begun to strew the ground, and the trees look richly in flower. April 12. 1860
April 13. Snowed all day, till the ground was covered eight inches deep . . . The elm buds begin to show their blossoms. April 13, 1852
April 13. Heard a purple finch on an elm, like a faint robin. April 13, 1854
April 13. The streets are strewn with the bud-scales of the elm, which they, opening, have lost off, and their tops present a rich brown already. I hear a purple finch on one. April 13, 1859
April 15. The broad flat brown buds on Mr. Cheney's elm, containing twenty or thirty yellowish-green threads, surmounted with little brownish-mulberry cups, which contain the stamens and the two styles, -- these are just expanding or blossoming now. April 15, 1852
April 15. I see the white under sides of many purple finches, busily and silently feeding on the elm blossoms within a few feet of me, and now and then their bloody heads and breasts. They utter a faint, clear chip. Their feathers are much ruffled. The arrival of the purple finches appears to be coincident with the blossoming of the elm, on whose blossom it feeds. April 15, 1854
April 15. The purple finch is singing on the elms about the house, together with the robins, whose strain its resembles, ending with a loud, shrill, ringing chili chilt chilt chilt. April 15, 1856
April 16. Cheney’s elm shows stamens on the warm side pretty numerously. April 16, 1856
April 17. I look up, these snowy days, and see purple finches silently feeding on the elms, when I have heard no sound. April 17, 1854
April 17. The flowers of the common elm at Lee’s are now loose and dangling, apparently well out a day or two in advance of Cheney’s, but I see no pollen. April 17, 1855
April 21. The song of the purple finch on the elms (he also frequents firs and spruce) is rich and continuous, like but fainter and more rapid than, that of a robin, some of the cherruwit in it and a little of the warble of the martin. April 21, 1854
April 21. The puddles have dried off along the road and left thick deposits or water-lines of the dark-purple anthers of the elm, coloring the ground like sawdust. You could collect great quantities of them. April 21, 1858
April 24. The elms are now fairly in blossom. April 24, 1852
May 13. I suspect the purple finches are all gone within a few days. May 13, 1854
May 24. Hear a purple finch sing more than one minute without pause, loud and rich, on an elm over the street. May 24, 1855
July 7. The purple finch still sings over the street. July 7, 1856
October 10. There are many small birds in flocks on the elms in Cheney's field, faintly warbling, – robins and purple finches and especially large flocks of small sparrows. October 10, 1853
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Elms and the Purple Finch
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2026
https://tinyurl.com/hdt-purplefinch
