PASSERES. FRINGILLAD^. 



BLUE QUIT.* 

 Euphonia Jamaica. 



Fringilla Jamaica.^ Linn. 

 Euphonia Jamaica^ Desm. 

 Grey Grosbeak^ Brown. — 111. Zool. pi. 26. 



A SHORT stumpy bird, and rather inelegant from 

 the shortness of its tail, the Blue Quit reminds 

 me of the Nut-hatches. It is very common about 

 homesteads, where it frequents fruit-trees, particu- 

 larly the sops : it is, however, nowise infrequent 

 in the woods, both on the mountains and in the 

 lowlands. It hops busily about the twigs and fruits, 

 picking in any position, back or belly, head or tail, 

 uppermost. When the sour-sop is ripe, they flock 

 to it in such numbers, that the tree appears covered 

 with them : the negro children then set limed twigs 

 for them, and I have had them brought to me thus 

 as fast as they could be taken down. The boys 

 cut diagonal notches into the bark of a naseberry 

 tree, {Achras), or score an unripe fruit; a white milk 

 exudes, so abundant as to drop quickly, and is caught 



* Length 4§ inches, expanse 8, flexure 2^, tail 1-j^, rictus ^, tarsus 

 I, middle toe |-i. Irides deep hazel : feet dark grey ; beak grey, the 

 fissure, ridge and tip black. 



Male. Upper parts slate blue, glossy, more or less tinged on the rump 

 with green. Throat, breast, and sides pale grey : belly yellow ; under tail 

 coverts greyish white. The blue on the wing-quills nearly black. 



Female. Loins, upper tail-coverts, and thighs, yellow-green ; no yellow 

 on the belly. Otherwise as the male. 



