24 FRINGILLrD^aE. 



ashy towards the ends, the inner web yellowish towards the base ; 

 crown of head like the back, slightly washed with yellow on the fore- 

 head and over the eye ; lores ashy whitish ; ear-coverts and cheeks 

 brown, with a faint tinge of yellow ; chin whitish ; under surface 

 of body brown, washed with yellow on the throat and breast ; 

 abdomen whitish ; sides of body and flanks brown, faintly streaked 

 with darker brown ; thighs whitish ; under tail-coverts brown, 

 with ashy-whitish edgings; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 yellow, with ashy bases ; quills below dusky, ashy along the inner 

 edge. Total length 6 inches, culmen 0-6, wing 3*4, tail 2*15, 

 tarsus 0"65. 



The female Greenfinch can always be distinguished from the male 

 by the yellow on the primaries being merely a margin and never 

 reaching to the shaft ; the base of the tail also is not yellow, nor 

 is there any yellow base to the bastard wing. 



The young male, after its first moult, resembles the old female, 

 but has more yellow on the under surface ; and it can always 

 be told by the wings and tail, which are like those of the adult. 



The South-European form, G. aurantiiventris, is similar to G. 

 chloris, but is, as a rule, smaller and brighter coloured, with much 

 less ashy grey on the upper surface and brighter yellow on the 

 abdomen. The female bird seems to be different from the ordi- 

 nary female of the North-European Greenfinch, being much more 

 ashy brown, with faint dusky streaks below. It is a mistake to 

 suppose that the bright form is confined to South Europe, for Mr. 

 Hargitt has presented a specimen to the Museum from the vicinity 

 of Havre, which is almost entirely yellow above, and approaches the 

 Palestine race. The true distribution of the Greenfinches and their 

 various races, if such exist, requires the study of a larger series of 

 skins than I have been able to meet with at present ; and I have not 

 attempted to separate the synonymy of C. chloris and G. aurantii- 

 ventris. It may be also noted that there is considerable difference 

 in English specimens, the birds that visit us in spring and migrate 

 in the autumn being altogether paler and brighter in colour than 

 the resident birds. 



Hah. Europe generally; the countries bordering the Mediter- 

 ranean ; accidental in Madeira ; extending eastwards to Persia and 

 North-western Turkestan. 



a, b. <5 5 ad. sk. Orkneys (Dunn). P. B. Skarpe, Esq. [P.]. 



c. <5 ad. sk. Hawkstone, Shropshire. Gould Collection. 



d e. rC ad. st. Leicestershire. Theodore Walker, Esq. 



[P.]. 

 /, g. Pull. ; h. i. Cambridgeshire. Mr. J. Baker. 



Juv. ; h, I. 6 2 

 ad. st. 

 m. S ad. sk. Cambridgeshire, April Salvin-Godnian Coll. 



17, 1856 (0. S.). 

 n, o. c? $ ad. sk. Cambridgeshire, Jan. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



1856 {J. Baker). 



