408 



U. S, p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



ture; claws attenuated towards the point and acute. Lateral toes about ec[ual. Wings usually 

 almost one-Lalf longer than the tail, which is deeply forked. 



a. Points of mandibles overlapping. 



CuRVlROSTRA. — Tarsi shorter than middle toe. Bill much compressed, elongate 

 falcate, with the points crossing like the blades of scissors. Claws very large ; 

 lateral extending beyond the base of the middle. Tarsi shorter than the middle 

 toe. Colors red. 



h. Poijits of mandibles not overlapping. 



Aegiothus. — Tarsi equal to the middle toe. Bill very acutely conical ; outlines 



with commissure perfectly straight. Lateral toes reaching beyond the base of 



the middle one. No ridge on the side of the lower mandible. Colors reddish. 



Leucosticte. — Culmen slightly decurved ; commissure a little concave. Bill 



obtusely conical ; not sharp pointed. A conspicuous ridge on the side of the 



lower mandible. Claws large; the lateral not reaching beyond the base of the 



middle one. Colors red and brown. 



D. — Hind claw much the largest ; decidedly less curved than the middle anterior one. Tarsi 



longer than the middle toe. Lateral toes equal; reaching about to the base of the middle claw. 



Hind toe as long or longer than the middle one. Bill very variable ; always more or less 



curved and blunted. Tail slightly emarginate or even. Wings one-half longer than the tail. 



First quill as long as the second. 



Plectrophanes. — Colors black and white. With or without rufous nape or elbows. 



HESPERIPHONA, Bonaparte. 



Hesperiphona, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424. Type Fringilla vesperhna. 



Ch. — Bill largest and stoutest of all the United States fringilline birds. Upper mandible much vaulted ; culmen nearly straight, 

 but arched towards the tip ; commissure curved. Lower jaw very large, but not broader than the upper, nor extending back, as 

 in Guiraca ; considerably lower than the upper jaw. Gonys unusually long. Feet short ; tarsi less than the middle toe ; lateral 

 toes nearly equal, and reaching to the base of the middle claw. Claws much curved, stout, and compressed. Wings very long 

 and pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail. Primaries much longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertial ; outer 

 two quills longest ; the others rapidly graduated. Tail slightly forked ; scarcely more than two-thirds the length of the wings. 



The essential character of the genus among its allied North American forms consists, chiefly, 

 in the enormous vaulted bill, .85 of an inch long and half of an inch broad. The wings lack 

 the curious expansion of the tertiaries seen in the European Coccothraustes. The secondaries are 

 emarginated at the end, and in some of them there is seen a short thread projecting from the 

 bottom of the notch. This, at first, appears like the mucronate tip of the shaft, but it is, really, 

 a supplementary pennule springing from the under surface of the wing, a short distance from 

 the end. 



Species of the genus are said to occur in Asia. 



