passeriNjE. 301 



Vidua, Cuv.(l) 



The Widows, as they are termed, are birds of Africa and India,^ 

 which have the beak of a Linnet, sometimes slightly inflated at the 

 base, and distinguished by having some of the quills of the tail, or 

 of its upper coverts, excessively elongated in the males.(2) 



There is a gradual transition, and without any assignable interval,^ 

 from the Linnets to, (3) 



,CoCCOTHRAUSTES, CuV. 



Or the Grosbeaks, whose exactly conical beak is only distinguished 

 by its excessive size. 



Loxia coccothraustcs, L., Enl. 99 and lOO; Nautn. 114. (The 

 Common Grosbeak.) Is one of those that are most truly worthy 

 of the name. Its enormous beak is yellowish; back and calotte 

 brown; rest of the plumage greyish; throat and quills of the 

 wings, black; a white band on the wings. It inhabits the moun- 



(1) It is not easy to see why Linnsus and Gmelin arranged them with the Bunt- 

 ings, by the names of Emheriza regia, (Enl. 8, 1); Emb. serena, (lb., 2); Emb. 

 paradisea {En\. 194); Emb. panayensis (Enl. 647); Emb. longicauda {En\. 635). 

 Add, Fringilla superciliosa, Vieill. Gal. 61. If we do not leave the Widows with 

 the Linnets, there is no other place for them except among the Grosbeaks. 



12) In the Veuve d epaulettes ( F". longicauda) the coverts only are elongated; in 

 the others, it is the quills. N.B. The Emb. principalis, (Edw. 270) and the Emb. 

 vidua (Aldrow. Orni. II, 565) appear to me to be the same bird in different states 

 of plumage. The Etnb. psittacea, Seb. I, pi. Ixvi, fig. 5, is not very authentic. The 

 angolensis, Salem. Orni. 277; the Veuve chrysoptere, Vieill. Ois. ch. pi. xli, and the 

 Lox. macroura, Enl. 283, 1, which, perhaps, do not differ from it, are not "Widows, 

 but common Grosbeaks. 



(3) This transition is effected, in the species I have been able to examine, in 

 the following order, the beak always increasing in size: Loxia quadricolor, (Ember., 

 Lin.) 101, 2, the same as the Gros bee longicone. Tern. Col.; L. sanguinirostris, 

 Enl. 183, 2; L. molucca, Enl. 139, 2; L. variegata, Vieill. 51; L. punctulata, 

 lb. 1; L. maja, Enl. 109, 1; L. striata, Enl. 153, 1; L. nitida, Vieill. 50; L. 

 malacca, Enl. 139, 3; L. astrild., Enl. 157, 2;L. bella, Vieill. 55; L. constans. 

 Id. 57; L oryzivora, Enl. 152, 1; L. fuscata, Vieill. pi. Ixii; L. airicapilla, Id., 

 53; L. nigra, Catesb. 1, 68; Vieill. Gal. 57; L. brasiliana, Enl. 309, 1; L. pe- 

 tronia {Fring. peironia, L.) Enl. 255; L. chloris, Enl. 267, 2; L. haematina, 

 Vieill. pi. Ixvii, where the beak is too slender; L. guttata. Id. 68, is a variety of 

 the same; L. quinticolor, Id. 54; L. fasciata. Brown, 111., xxvii; L. madagas- 

 cariensis, Enl. 143, 2; L. caerulea,- L. cardinalis, Enl. 37; L. melanura,- L. 

 Occothraustes, Enl. 89 and 100; L. ostrina, Vieill. Ois. ch. 48, Gal. 60; L. rosea, 

 Vieill., pi. Ixiii. 



Add, L. vespertina, Bonap. II, pl. xiv, f. 1; L. ludoviciana, Wils. II, pi. xvii, f. 

 1; L. cxrulea, Wils., Ill, pl. xxiv, f. vi; L. purpurea, Wils. I, pl. vii, f. 4. 

 Am. Edit. 



