5 74 



PERCHING BIRDS 



been recorded, the majority of these, according to a well-known authority, 

 are untrustworthy ; and since authenticated visitations are apparently 

 very few, the species may be dismissed without further mention. 



u fi ph ^^^'^ large and handsome, albeit soberly coloured, 



(Coecothraustes hawfinch (which appears in some works under the 



vule-aris) name of Coecothraustes coccotlirmtstcs) is the typical 



representative of the Coccothraustina,*, or third and 



last subfamily of the Fringillidai. The distinctive feature of this 



group is to be found in the backward extension of the horny sheath of 



the upper half of the beak beyond 

 the front rim of the bony socket 

 of the eye ; while the inferior 

 border of the lower half of the 

 beak is nearly straight. 



The conical beak and the 

 sickle-shaped tips of the inner 

 primary quills distinguish the 

 hawfinch from all other British 

 birds. The cock is character- 

 ised by a narrow line of black 

 feathers encircling the root of 

 the beak, joining a large black 

 patch on the throat ; the rest of 

 the head being orange -brown, 

 becoming paler and brighter on 

 the forehead ; the hind part of 

 the neck is ashy grey and the 

 back chcstnu.t-brown ; while the middle wing-coverts are mostly white, 

 and the under-parts nutmeg-brown. A duller tone distinguishes the 

 hen, which has little or no black round the upper part of the beak, a 

 smaller throat-patch, and a brown tinge on the middle wing-coverts. 

 Young birds differ from the hen by their ashy-brown colour above, and 

 the dirty white, clouded with dark brown spots, of the lower surface. 



A peculiarity of the hawfinch is the presence on the upper and 

 lower surfaces of the inside of the beak of certain large horny bosses, 

 evidently adapted to play the part of millstones in crushing the hard 

 hawthorn-seeds and stones of fruit on which the bird chiefly fced.s. 



Europe, together with northern Africa, and Asia as far as Asia 

 Minor and Turkestan, constitute the geographical range of the haw- 

 finch. This bird is resident throughout the midland, southern, and 



HAWFINCH (m.\i.i:). 



