-270 



Fringilla, Cuv. 



The bill of the Finches is somewhat less arcuated than that of the 

 Sparrows, a little stronger and longer than in the Linnets. Their man- 

 ners are more lively, and their song more varied than those of the former. 

 There are three species in France : 



Fring. ccelehs, L. ; iPinfow ordinaire, Enl. 54,1; Namn. 118. 

 (The Chaffinch). Brown above ; beneath, a vinous-red in the male, 

 greyish in the female ; two white bands on the wing ; some white on 

 the sides of the tail. Feeds on all sorts of grain, and builds indis- 

 criminately on all kinds of trees. No bird contributes more to en- 

 liven the country. 



Fring. montifringilla, L. ; Pinion de montagne ; Enl. 54, 2; 

 Naum. 119. (The Mountain Finch). Black, mottled with fawn 

 colour above; fawn-coloured breast; under part of the wing of a 

 beautiful lemon. This bird, which varies greatly, builds in the 

 thickest forests, and never visits the plains till winter. 



Fring. nivalis, L. ; Niverolle, Briss. Ill, xv, 1; Naum. 117. 

 (The Snow Finch). Brown, mottled with a paler tint of the same 

 colour above; whitish beneath; head ash coloured; coverts of the 

 wings, and nearly all the secondary quills, white. The throat of the 

 male black. It builds among the rocks of the upper Alps, where it 

 only descends in the middle of winter to the lower mountains (a). 



Carduelis, Cuv. 



The Linnets and Goldfinches have an exactly conical bill", without the 



least convex protuberance at any point. They live on grain. Those 



which have a little longer and more pointed bill, are styled Goldfinches. 



Fring. carduelis, L. ; Enl. 4; Naum. 124, 1, 2. (The Common 



Goldfinch). One of the prettiest birds in Europe. Brown above, 



whitish beneath ; the mask of a beautiful red ; a fine yellow spot on 



the wing, &c. It is also very docile, quickly learns to sing and to 



play all kinds of tricks. It prefers the seeds of thistle, eryngium, 



&c.*(6). 



LiNARiA, Bechst. 

 The Linnets also have an exactly conical biU, but it is shorter and more 



capensis, c, Enl. 389, 2, and g, Enl. 664, 2; — Tanagra silens, Enl. 742, of which 

 Vieill. has made his genus Arremon, Gal. 78; — Fring. elegans, Enl. 205, 1, Vieill. 

 Gal. 64; — Le pape, Emberiza ciris, Enl. 159, which forms the genus Passerina, 

 Vieill. Gal. 66;—Loxia oryx, Enl. 6, 2;—Lox. ignicolor, Vieill. Ois. Chant. 59;— 

 Loxia dominicana, Enl. 55, 2, and the other species, Enl. 103; — Fringilla cristata, 

 Enl. 181;— the Dioch {Emb. quelea), Vieill. Ois. Chant. 23;— the Dioch rose. Id. 24; 

 — Lox. capensis. The latter begins to approach the Grosbeaks (a). 



* Add, Fr. psittacea, Lath. Syn. II, p. 48;— Fr. melba, Edw. 128 and 272;— Fr. 

 coccinea, Vieill. Ois. ch. pi. xxxi; — Fr. leucocephala, Lath. Id. 26;— fV. magellanica, 

 Id. 30. 



KiF («) Several American species are described by Wilson. — Eno. Ed. 

 ^ (b) Add, Pyr. orythrophthalma, Wils. II, pi, x, f. 5 ;— P. tfo'aca, Wils. 

 p. xxii, f xiv. — Eng. Ed. 



