PASSERES — FRINGILLID.E COCCOBORUS. 145 



FAMILY FRINGILLID^. 



Bill short, robust, less thick than the head, conic, acute and very slightly curved at the tip ; 

 edges generally entire : upper mandible wider than the lower. Nostrils basal, roundish, 

 partly concealed by iliort bristly feathers. Tarsus compressed, with seven or eight ante- 

 rior scutellce, shorter than the middle toe : lateral toes subequal ; hind nail longest. Roof 

 of the mouth concave, with three prominent ridges, of ivhich the middle is sometimes ele- 

 vated into a hard prominence. Tongue compressed, pointed. 



GENUS COCCOBORUS. Swainson. 



Bill very robust, almost as broad as the head, somewhat compressed, tapering to a point. 

 Upper mandible convex above, smaller than the lower, and with distinct bristles at its base ; 

 the edges ascending for a third of their length, then direct ; the notches faint. 



THE BLUE GROSBEAK. 



COCCOBORUS CERULEUS. 

 PLATE LX1V. FIG. 146. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Lvxia.cerv.ha. LlNNJEUS, p. 306. 



Blue Grosbeak. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 351. Wilson, Am. Om. Vol.3, p. 78, pi. 24, fig. 6 (male), 

 Fringillu ( Coccoihraustes ) cerulca. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 114. 



F. id. Nuttall, Man. Om. Vol. 1, p. 529. Audubon, folio, pi. 122. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 134. Peabody, 

 Zool. Mass. p. 330. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 3, p. 204, pi. 204. 



Characteristics. Deep blue. Lores and frontlet black : wings and tail dusky ; the former 

 edged with chesnut. Female : Head and hind part of the back blue. 

 Young, yellowish brown ; lighter beneath. Length, 7 "5. 



Description. Bill forming a continuous curve with the forehead. Upper mandible broadly 

 notched near the base, and a slight notch near the tip. Second, third and fourth primaries 

 longest, subequal. Tail rounded, nearly even. Middle toe and claw subequal with the tarsus. 

 A few small porrect bristles at the base of the upper mandible. Tail 1 " 4 longer than the 

 tips of the closed wings. 



Color. Brilliant blue. Lores, chin and frontlet black. Wings and tail dusky black ; the 

 latter and the quills edged with blue. Wing-coverts edged with chesnut-brown. Lower 

 mandible lightest. Legs dusky. Female : Head and posterior part of the back bright blue. 

 Sides and breast tinged with blue. Anterior part of the back brown. Wings and tail dusky; 

 the coverts of the former edged with chesnut. Beneath yellowish brown. Young, yellowish 

 brown, tinged with darker brown ; rather lighter beneath. Wings and tail dark blackish 

 brown. Length, 6 - 5-7"5. Alar spread, 10-0- 11 -0. 

 [Fauna— Part 2.] 19 



