132 FRINGILLIDjE. 



yellowish-green, behind which is a dusky patch ; hack, nape, 

 scapulars and lesser wing-coverts, greenish-olive streaked 

 with black ; greater wing-coverts brownish-black, tipped with 

 yellow ; wing-quills dusky black, their outer web narrowly 

 edged with yellow, except near the base where the whole of 

 it is yellow — the inner web of the primaries is also of a 

 greyish-white tinged with yellow ; rump yellow ; upper tail- 

 coverts greenish-olive ; tail-quills dusky black the middle 

 pair entirely so, the rest yellow at the base, with narrow 

 light-coloured edges ; chin black ; throat and breast yellowish- 

 green, passing into greyish-white on the sides, belly, flanks 

 and lower tail-coverts, all of which are streaked longitudinally 

 with dusky black : legs, toes and claws, brown. 



The whole length is four inches and five-eighths ; from the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches and seven- 

 eighths : the second, third and fourth primaries nearly equal 

 in length, the second being rather the longest ; the fifth one- 

 eighth shorter than the fourth. 



After the moult following the breeding-season, the bill is 

 lead-coloured, the yellow of the plumage is much less bright, 

 and the feathers of the head have brownish edges, hiding the 

 black at the base, while the black patch on the chin is by the 

 same means almost wholly obscured. 



The female is rather smaller than the male, and wants the 

 black crown ; the head, back and wing-coverts greyish olive- 

 brown, the lower parts greyish-white, tinged with greenish- 

 yellow on the throat and breast, and the whole plumage except 

 on the middle of the belly streaked with dusky black. 



Nestlings are without any yellow except on the primaries 

 and a faint tinge on the lower parts, the general colour of 

 the plumage being a brownish-buff streaked with dull black. 

 Young males, after the first moult, have the black feathers 

 of the crown edged with brown, and the colours generally not 

 so bright as those of the adults. 



By many systematists this species has been separated 

 from the genus Carduelis and placed in that of Ghrysomitris 

 suggested in 1828 by Friedrich Boie for its reception — a step 

 in favour of which much may be urged. 



