418 LOXIA EUROP^A. 



finch, Coccotbraustes atrogularis, a remarkably stout bird, having 

 a very strong bill, a large bead, short thick neck, compact ovate 

 body, short feet of considerable strength, rather long wings, and 

 moderately large tail. As the specific characters and descrip- 

 tions of this species contained in most of our best works are 

 very inaccurate, I consider it necessary to give a full account 

 of it, drawn up from a great number of recent individuals, and 

 subsequently revised and compared w^ith stufted skins. Some 

 time ago, having been presented with several fine specimens by 

 my excellent friend, the Reverend ^Ir. Adam, of Peebles, I 

 imagined them to be much larger than any individuals that I 

 had ever seen, and conjectured that they might possibly belong 

 to the Parrot Crossbill. The description given by M. Tem- 

 minck of that species agreed with them in part. Thus the bill 

 was very strong, much curved, and the point of the lower man- 

 dible did not extend beyond the dorsal outline of the upper ; 

 but the bill was only five instead of seven lines in breadth, and 

 it was longer in place of being shorter than the middle toe, that 

 is, excluding the claw. Neither did they agree with his charac- 

 ter of the Curvirostra, for the bill w^as neither long nor feebly 

 curved, although it was about five lines in breadth, and of about 

 the length of the middle toe, the claw included ; moreover, the 

 point of the lower mandible was shorter than it ought to be. 

 Having been accustomed to consider this author as generally 

 very correct, I was much disappointed with the insufticiency of 

 his characters in this instance ; and when I referred to other 

 authors, I found them equally defective. Mr. Jenyns, for 

 example, had merely manufactured his descriptions from Tem- 

 minck, without so much as giving measurements. I therefore 

 resolved to collect as many specimens as possible ; and for- 

 tunately procured, through Mr. Adam and others, about a dozen, 

 to which I have added a great number of skins. The result of 

 my examination is the following description. 



Male in November. — The bill is nearly as long as the head, 

 shorter than the middle toe, the claw included, and a little 

 longer than the tarsus, somewhat higher than broad at the base, 

 compressed towards the end ; both its outlines arcuate, the tips 



