78 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
Young: Darker above; feathers on back and _ scapulars: 
edged with rufous ; secondariegggnd upper tail-coverts narrowly 
edged with white. 
Distribution: Found through Southern Europe and 
Central Asia to China. 
Habitat: Rocky, mountain ravines or caves. 
Section OSCINES CONIROSTRES. 
Family FRINGILLIDA. 
Subfamily FRINGILLINEA. 
Genus CARDUELIS. 
GOLDFINCH. “ 
Carduelis elegans Spi. 
Adult Male: Feathers round base of bill and lores black ; 
forehead and wfpper throat crimson; centre of crown black, 
joining a black half collar on the neck ; ear-coverts and region 
both above and below them white; back pale olive-brown; upper 
tail-coverts white ; quills black, tipped with white, their dases 
externally margined with golden yellow ; tail feathers black, 
tipped with white and outer ones subterminally marked with a 
white blotch ; beneath white, shaded on sides of breast, and 
flanks with wood-brown ; bill pale brown, darker at tip; legs, 
feet and irides brown. Length 4°5 to 5 inches; culmen 0°45 ; 
wing 3°2; tail 2; tarsus 0°6. 
Adult Female: Similar, but duller and showing less red 
on forehead and upper throat. 
Young in first plumage: Head shows no black or red ; - 
beneath much browner, breast more or less distinctly spotted. 
Young in Autumn: Above greyish-brown, shaded with 
darker brown ; wing tips buffish and not pure white ; outermost 
pair of rectrices only spotted. 
Distribution : Resident throughout most of Europe, except 
in the extreme north. - Resident also in Northern Africa and 
ranges eastward into Persia. 
