464 FRI>fGILLID.K. 



and another observer, as for west as Tcrceira, one of the 

 Azores. 



The adult male in summer has the beak bluish lead colour, 

 with a tinge of purplish red on the under surface of the under 

 mandible ; the feathers over the base of the upper mandible 

 black ; the irides hazel ; top of the head and nape of the neck 

 dark bluish gray ; back chestnut ; wings almost black ; 

 smaller wing-coverts white ; the greater wing-coverts black at 

 the base, tipped with white, the two sets of wing-coverts 

 forming two conspicuous white bars ; all the quill-feathers 

 dusky black, with narroAv lighter-coloured edges, the tertials 

 with broader margins of bufFy Avhite ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts yellowish green ; the two middle tail-feathers greyish 

 black, the next three on each side nearly black ; the outer 

 tail-feather on each side white, with a narrow stripe of 

 dusky black at the base and at the tip ; the next feather 

 on each side dusky black, with a triangular patch of white 

 on the inner web ; the tail is very slightly forked ; the 

 cheeks, ear-coverts, chin, throat, breast, and flanks, a rich 

 reddish brown, becoming paler on the belly and under tail- 

 coverts ; legs, toes, and claws, brown. 



The whole length of the bird six inches. From the carpal 

 joint to the end of the wing, three inches and three-eighths; 

 the first quill-feather a little longer than the fifth; the second, 

 third, and fourth feathers equal in length, and the longest in 

 the wing. 



The female has the upper surface of the body more mixed 

 with dull brown, producing considerable uniformity of colour; 

 the under surface is also of a dull fawn colour ; the two white 

 bars on the wings are rather less conspicuous. 



The young of the year resemble the females ; but after the 

 first autumn moult the young males obtain by slow degrees 

 a change to the brighter colours peculiar to adult males. 



Varieties of the Chaffinch, with an excess of white, are not 

 uncoinmon. 



