Purple finch There are two subspecies of the purple finch, "H. p. purpureus" and "H. p. californicus". "H. p. californicus" was identified by Spencer F. Baird in 1858. It differs from the nominate subspecies in that it has a longer tail and shorter wings. The plumage of both males and females is darker, and the coloration of the females is more greenish. The bill of "C. p. californicus" is also longer than that of the nominate subspecies. Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings and are about in length and weigh . Adult males are raspberry red on the
Purple colors, it is seen as uncertain and equivocal. In Britain, purple is sometimes associated with mourning. In Victorian times, close relatives wore black for the first year following a death ("deep mourning"), and then replaced it with purple or dark green trimmed with black. This is rarely practised today. The color purple plays a significant role in the traditions of engineering schools across Canada. This fascination with purple is commonly attributed to the story of the sinking of the Titanic, in which the purple-clad Marine Engineers remained on board to delay the ship's sinking. Purple is also the colour of