Neil R. wrote -

<<<A little further on I saw a male and female Purple Finch moving ahead
of me on the trail. I put my bino's on the pair and watched in amazment
as the male Purple Finch was doing a chicken dance, just like the
Prairie Chickens do, I have seen it on T.V. not in real life.
The Male finches tail was straight up and his crown feathers were also
straight up, his wings moving as in the chicken dance and he was moving
in the dance slowly down the road. Once in awhile the female would move
toward the male, the male would just dance away. I followed them for
about one hundred feet, staying twenty feet away using my bino's to
witness this exciting performance, it was incredible, I was captivated.
>>>

This is the standard Purple Finch mating stuff I see on my sundeck
every year. Usually when the male is soliciting, he also
strings together a longer "exaltative" type of song for the
intended one. However, I have never seen the copulation tussle you
described. Note that a description of this behaviour is missing from
the recent Purple Fince monograph in the Bird of North America series
so it appears a lot of people miss this annual rite.

-------
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca