Crimson-browed finch Crimson-browed finch The crimson-browed finch ("Carpodacus subhimachalus") is a true finch species (family Fringillidae). It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. This is a large finch with a large short bill. The male has a crimson red head and throat. The female has a yellow head and throat. The species was described by the British naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836 under the binomial name "Corythus subhimachalus". The species name "subhimachalus" is derived from the Latin "sub" meaning 'beneath' and the Hindi word "himachal" meaning snow. The crimson-browed
Tyrian purple in antiquity because the colour did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight. Its significance is such that the name Phoenicia means 'land of purple.' It came in various shades, the most prized being that of "blackish clotted blood". Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, "Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon" in Asia Minor. The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became status symbols, whose use was restricted by sumptuary laws. The most senior Roman magistrates wore a "toga praetexta", a white toga edged with a stripe of Tyrian purple.