PASSER] N,E. 201 



Mr. Gould subdivides them into Geospiza as restricted, with the bill of a Cardinal-finch (Guarica), — Camaryn- 

 chus, with that of a Corythus, — Cactornis, wherein the beak resembles that of an Icterus, — and Struthidea, 

 wherein it even approaches the slender bill of an Accentor]. 



The Cardinal-finches {Guarica, Svvainson) — 

 Have nearly the beak of the Grosbeaks, but slightly bulging, and are peculiar to America. 

 The Virginian Nightingale, as it is termed (Lox. cardinalis, Lin.), is a well-known example. 



Some have the beak remarkably compressed ; and a species in which this compression attains its 

 ultimatum, constitutes 



Paradoxornis, Gould, — 



Wherein the curved ridge of the upper mandible forms an acute angle, its sides do not bulge, and the 

 cutting edge is deeply sinuated. 



The only known species (P. flavirostris, Gould,) inhabits the Himmalayas. 



Naturalists have long separated 



The Bullfinches (Pyrrhula), — 

 Which have a rounded and every where bulging bill, [the tip of the upper mandible overhanging the 

 lower one. Plumage soft and very dense]. 



The Common Bullfinch {Loxia pyrrhula, Lin.].— Ash-colour above, vivid tile-red below, with black cap, [tail, and 

 wings partly, the rump white]. Female dull reddish-brown where the male is red. [Young destitute of the black 

 cap. There is a race, considerably larger in all its proportions, but otherwise exactly resembling, in eastern Eu- 

 rope ; another in Japan, differing: inconsiderably in colour, but undoubtedly distinct ; and a fourth on the Himma- 

 layas (P. erythrocephala), more strongly characterized]. 



The Crossbills {Loxia, Brisson) — 

 Have a compressed beak, the mandibles of which are so strongly curved, that their tips cross each 

 other, and not always on the same side. This extraordinary bill enables them to extract the seeds 

 from pine-cones with astonishing facility. 



[These birds present a singular modification of the same particular type to which the Siskins and Redpole Lin- 

 nets appertain ; than which they are merely stouter built, with the tips of the beak still more prolonged, and 

 anomalously modified, in adaptation to peculiar habits. The species are very indeterminate, but there appear to 

 be several of them, successively increasing in stoutness and strength of bill, but differing in no other particular; 

 and as one of them only is distinguished by white bars on the wing, like a common Chaffinch, which character is 

 found in individuals only of a particular size, this circumstance militates against the rest being considered varie- 

 ties of one another. 



That common in western Europe (Lox. curvirostra, Lin.), is of medium strength, and of late years has become 

 considerably more abundant than formerly in the British Isles, where it was previously chiefly known as an occa- 

 sional and very irregular visitant. The Parrot Crossbill (L. pytiopsittacus, Bechst), is larger and stouter, with a 

 much stronger beak, the points of which rarely pass the ridge of the opposite mandible. It is of very rare occur- 

 rence in Britain, where the white-winged species (L. leucoptera), which is chiefly found in America, has also 

 occurred as a straggler. The nestling plumage of these birds corresponds with that of a Redpole, and the males 

 afterwards assume, most irregularly, a red or buff-yellow garb, brightest on the crown, breast, and rump. Their 

 call-note, and all their actions, strikingly recall to mind those of a Goldfinch or Redpole.] 



The Pine-finches {Corythus, Cuv.) — 



[Are simply Crossbills, devoid of the peculiar character from which those birds derive their name, 



with rather softer and less firm plumage, and a beak scarcely differing from that of the Bullfinches. 



They have also the same irregularity of colour, and their habits are nearly similar. One species (C. enucleator) 

 is common in the northern pine-forests of both continents ; there is a second in northern Asia, and the Pyrrhula 

 longicaudata, Tem., constitutes a third.] 



The Colies (Colitis, Ginelin) — 

 Are still very near the preceding, [a remark of the author perfectly unaccountable]. Their beak is 

 short, thick, conical, a little compressed, the two mandibles being arcuated without cither passing 

 beyond the other* ; tail-feathers [ten in number, much] graduated, and exceedingly long [and rigid] ; 

 the thumb, as in the Swifts, capable of being directed forwards like the other toes; their plumage, 

 fine and silky, [short, dense, and smooth,] is generally of an ash-eolour, [and the coronal feathers are 

 elongated, forming an erectile pointed crest: the body feathers possess an accessory plume, and are 



• The upin-r mnndiblc docs considerably overhang the other. — Ed. 



