Purple Finch

SCI Name:  Haemorhous purpureus
Protonym:  Fringilla purpurea Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.923
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Fringillidae / Haemorhous
Taxonomy Code:  purfin
Type Locality:  Carolina ; emended to South Carolina by Amer. Ornith. Union, 1931, Check-list North Amer. Birds, ed. 4, p. 320.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

HAEMORHOUS
(Fringillidae; † Purple Finch H. purpureus) Gr. αἱμα haima, αἱματος haimatos  blood; ορρος orrhos  rump (cf. αἱμορρους haimorrhous  flowing with blood; specific name Fringilla haemorrhoa Lichtenstein, 1820 (= syn. Haemorhous mexicanus)); "HÆMORHOUS, Sw.  Bill rather more lengthened than in Pyrrhula: the commissure sinuated. Wings lengthened, pointed. Tail forked. Feet short, robust. Middle toe much longer than the tarsus; inner toe rather shorter than the outer. Claws short, and fully curved; the hinder shorter than its toe.  America.  H. pupureus. Wils. i. 7. f. 4.  frontalis. Bon. Am. Or. i." (Swainson 1837); "Haemorhous (not of Boie, 1826) Swainson, Nat. Hist. Classif. Bds., 2, p. 295, 1837—type, by subs. desig. (Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 12, p. 387, 1888), Fringilla purpurea Gmelin." (Hellmayr, 1938, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. XI, p. 151).  I have yet to find "Haemorhous Boie, 1826."   
Var. Haemorrhous.   
Synon. Burrica, Erythrospiza.

purpureus
L. purpureus  purple-coloured  < purpura  purple  < Gr. πορφυρα porphura  purple.
● ex Coracina militaris Shaw, 1792, and “Grand Cotinga” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Haematoderus militaris).
● ex “Merle violet du Royaume de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 540 (Lamprotornis).
● ex “Perroquet violet” of Barrère 1741, “Perroquet varié de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 408, “Papagai violet” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Little dusky Parrot” of Edwards 1758-1764, and Latham 1781 (syn. Pionus fuscus).

SUBSPECIES

Purple Finch (Eastern)
SCI Name: Haemorhous purpureus purpureus
purpureus
L. purpureus  purple-coloured  < purpura  purple  < Gr. πορφυρα porphura  purple.
● ex Coracina militaris Shaw, 1792, and “Grand Cotinga” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Haematoderus militaris).
● ex “Merle violet du Royaume de Juida” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 540 (Lamprotornis).
● ex “Perroquet violet” of Barrère 1741, “Perroquet varié de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 408, “Papagai violet” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Little dusky Parrot” of Edwards 1758-1764, and Latham 1781 (syn. Pionus fuscus).

Purple Finch (Western)
SCI Name: Haemorhous purpureus californicus
californicum / californicus / californiensis
California.
● ?Erroneous TL. California (= Alta California, Mexico) (syn. Icterus cucullatus nelsoni).
● ex “California Bee-eater” of Ord 1815 (syn. Toxostoma redivivum).