1793 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon IV. 360 He found that the Purple-gray Cotinga is the young bird, and that it takes at least eighteen months to acquire its full colour.
1879 30 Aug. The gathering dusk..was falling in a purple-grey vail of tissue over wood and lawn.
1930 J. Dos Passos 147 Purplegray murk rose steadily.
1996 G. Ward i. 24 The staple food was poi , a purple-grey paste produced by pounding the root of the taro plant.