GROSBEAK 387 



Uragiis, and others ; but possibly Carpodacvs is sufficient to contain 

 all. Most of them are natives of the Old World, and chiefly of its 

 eastern division, but several inhabit the western portion of North 

 America, and one, C. githagineus (of Avhich there seem to be at least 

 two local races), is an especial native of the deserts, or their borders, 

 of Arabia and North Africa, extending even to some of the Canary 

 Islands — a singular modification in the habitat of a form which one 

 Avould be apt to associate exclusively with forest trees, and 

 especially conifers. Other species of the Old World, though com- 

 monly called " Grosbeaks," certainly belong to the Floceidx 

 (Weaver-bird). 



The Cardinal Grosbeak, or Virginian Nightingale of many 

 "writers, Cardinalis virginimms, claims notice here, though doubts 

 may be entertained as to the Family to Avhich it really belongs. 

 No less remarkable for its bright carmine attire, and the additional 

 embellishment of an elongated crest of the same colour, than for its 

 fine song, it has been an object of atti-action almost ever since the 

 settlement of its native country by Europeans. All American 

 ornithologists speak of its easy capture and its ready adaptation to 

 confinement, which for nearly three centuries have helped to make 

 it a popular cage-bird on both sides of the Atlantic. The vocal 

 powers possessed by the cock are to some extent shared by 

 the hen, though she is denied the vivid hues of her partner, and 

 her plumage, with exception of the wings and tail, which are of a 

 dull red, is light olive above and brownish-yellow beneath. It is 

 represented in the south-west of North America by other forms 

 that by some writers are deemed species, and in the northern parts 

 of South America by the C. pho&niceus, which would really seem 

 entitled to distinction. Another kindred bird, placed from its 

 short and broad bill in a diff"erent genus, and known as Pyrrhuloxia 

 sinvMta or the Texan Cardinal, is found on the southern borders of 

 the United States and in Mexico ; while among North- American 

 " Grosbeaks " must also be named the birds belonging to the genera 

 Guiraca and Hedymeles — the former especially exemplified by the 

 beautiful blue G. cxrulea, and the latter by the brilliant rose- 

 breasted H. ludovicianus, which last extends its range into Canada. 



This may be the fittest place to mention a small but interesting 

 group of birds containing the genera Geospiza, Camarhynchus and 

 Cadornis, some of which are truly Grosbeaks in the literal meaning 

 of the name. They are peculiar to the Galapagos, where they were 

 discovered by Mr. Darwin, who in his Journal of BesearcJies (chap, 

 xvii.) dwelt on the " perfect gradation in the size of the beak " in 

 the diff'erent species of Geospiza, shewn here by the figures inserted. 

 It is indeed curious to find the beak, generally considered to be the 

 most useful and important feature of a bird's organization, subject 

 to so much variation in closely-allied species, living, so far as Ave 



