GROSBEAK 387 
Uragus, and others; but possibly Carpodacus 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 which 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 
would 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 Ploceidx 
(WEAVER-BIRD). 
The CARDINAL Grosbeak, or Virginian Nightingale of many 
writers, Cardinalis virginianus, claims notice here, though doubts 
may be entertained as to the Family to which 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 attraction 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. pheniceus, which would really seem 
entitled to distinction. Another kindred bird, placed from its 
short and broad bill in a different genus, and known as Pyrrhuloaia 
sinuata 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. cwrulea, 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 
Cactornis, 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 Jowrnal of Researches (chap. 
xvii.) dwelt on the “perfect gradation in the size of the beak” in 
the different 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 we 
