232 FRINGILL1DVE. 



portion of the cheeks black tinged with green ; back and scapulars 

 dark greenish brown, sometimes suffused with yellow ; upper tail- 

 coverts greenish brown ; tail with the two middle pairs of feathers 

 dark brown, the others brown largely mixed with yellow, the 

 outermost pair being yellow with brown tips and brown shaft- 

 streaks: lesser aud median coverts yellow ; greater coverts black 

 tipped with yellow ; primary-coverts and quills black, all the quills 

 except the first primary with a patch of yellow on the outer web ; 

 the later secondaries and tertiaries broadly tipped and margined 

 with white. 



Female. Resembles the male, but has the yellow of the plumage 

 paler and the dark upper plumage more tinged with green ; the 

 forehead appears to be always black or brown. 



The young bird has the lower plumage pale yellow streaked 

 with brown ; the upper plumage dull greenish brown streaked 

 with dark brown, the rump being merely tinged with yellow ; wing- 

 coverts greenish brown, tipped with pale yellow : epulis and tail 

 as in the adult but with less yellow ; sides of head brown where 

 the adult is black. 



The amount of yellow on the forehead of the adult male appears 

 to depend more on age than on season ; some birds in January have 

 a great deal of yellow on this part and a few summer birds fail 

 to have any. 



Bill fleshy, brownish on oilmen and dusky at tip ; iris light or 

 dark brown ; feet brownish fleshy ; claws dusky (Scully). 



Length about 5 ; tail 1-9 ; wing 3"1 ; tarsus *65 ; bill from 

 gape - 5. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from the Pir Panjal range in 

 Kashmir to Sikhim ; Manipur. This species is found up to about 

 9000 feet. 



Habits, Sfe. Breeds in July and August, constructing a cup- 

 shaped nest of fine grass, hair, and moss in a branch of a tree 

 and laying three eggs, which are pale green speckled with black, 

 and measure about "69 by *52. 



Genus CHRYSOMITRIS, Boie, 1828. 



The genus Chrysomitris contains the Siskins, small birds of green 

 plumage closely allied in form to the Linnets. In this genus the 

 bill is very slender and pointed, but resembles that of the Linnets 

 so closely in general shape that it is unnecessary to figure it. In 

 the Siskins the sexes differ considerably in colour, the female being 

 streaked. 



773. Chrysomitris tibetana. The Sikhim Siskin. 



Chrysomitris thibetana, Hume, Ibis, 1872, p. 107; Brooks, Ibis, 

 1872, p. 469; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 416; id. Cat. no. 750 bis ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xii, p. 226, pi. iii. 



Coloration. Male. Upper plumage olive-green, the back and 

 scapulars streaked with blackish ; an indistinct patch on the nape, 



