272 BIRDS. 



Vidua*, Cm. 



The Widows, as they are termed, are birds of Africa and India, which 

 have the bill of a Linnet, sometimes a little more inflated at the base, and 

 distinguished by having some of the quills of the tail, or of its upper co- 

 verts, excessively elongated in the males f. ^ 



There is a gradual transition, and without any assignable interval, from 

 the Linnets to J, 



COCCOTHRAUSTES, CuV. 



Or the Grosbeaks, whose exactly conical bill is only distinguished by 

 its excessive size. 



Loxia coccotJiraustes, L. ; Enl. 99 and 100; Naum. 114. (The 

 Common Grosbeak). Is one of those that are most truly worthy of 

 the name. Its enormous bill is yellowish ; back and calotte brown ; 

 rest of the plumage greyish ; throat and quiUs of the wings, black ; 

 a white band on the wings. It inhabits the mountain forests, builds 



lensis, Enl. 115, 1; — Carduelis cucullata, Swains. Zool. 111. There are other species 

 also, called astrih, bengalis and senegallis, in the work of Vieillot, entitled Ois. chant. 

 de la zone torride, such as the Fr. bicolor, pi. ix; — Fr. tricolor, pi. xx; — cinerea, 6; — 

 cterulescens, 8; — melpoda, 7; — viridis, 4; — erythronotos, 14; — quinticolor, 15; — rubri- 

 ventris, l^;— frontalis or Lox. frontalis, L. 16; — F. guttata, 3; — add Fring. melanotis, 

 Temm. Col. 151, 1; — Fr. sanguinolenta, lb. 2; — Fr. polyzona, lb. 3; — Fr. otoleucus. 

 Tern, Col. 269, 2, 3;— fr. simplex, Lichtenst. Col. 358;— Fr. lutea. Col. 365;— Fr. 

 ornata, Pr. Max. Col. 208. The pretended Emberiza oryzivora, Enl. 388, has also 

 the same bill ; but the stiff and pointed quills of the tail distinguish it. 



Numerous Finches are described by M. Ch. Bonaparte, Ann. of New York Lye. 

 II. December, 1826, p. 106, et seq. 



* It is not easy to see why Linnasus and Gmelin arranged them with the Bunt- 

 ings, by the names of Emberiza regia, (Enl. 8, 1);— £?«6. serena, (lb. 2);—Emb. 

 paradisea, (Enl. 194);— £«6. panayensis, (Enl. 64:7);— Emb. longicauda, (Enl. 635). 

 Add, Fritigilla superciliosa, Vieill. Gal. 61. If we do not leave the Widows with the 

 Linnets, there is no other place for them except among the Grosbeaks. 



t In the Veuve a epaulettes {V. longicauda), the coverts only are elongated; in the 

 others, it is the quills. N. B. The Emb. principalis, (Edw. 270), and the Emb. vidua, 

 (Aldrow. Orni. II, 565), appear to me to be the same bird in different states of 

 plumage. The Emb. psittacea, Seb. I, pi. Ixvi, fig. 5, is not very authentic. The 

 angolensis, Salem. Orni. 277; the Feuve chrysoptere, VieiU. Ois. ch. pi. xli, and the 

 Lox. macroura, Enl. 283, 1, which, perhaps, do not differ from it, are not Widows, 

 but common Grosbeaks. 



X This transition is effected, in the species I have been able to examine, in the fol- 

 lowing order, the bill always increasing in size: Loxia quadricolor , (Embr., Lin.) 101, 

 2, the same as the Gros bee longicone, Tem. Col. ;— L. sanguinirostris, Enl. 183, 2;— Z. 

 molucca, Enl. 139, 2;— Z. variegata, Vieill. 51;— Z. punctulata, lb. 1;— Z. maja, 

 Enl. 109, \;—L. striata, Enl. 153, 1;— Z. nitida, VieHl. 50;— Z. malacca, Enl. 139, 

 3;—L.astrild., Enl. 157, 2;— Z. bella, Vieill. 55;— Z. cantans, Id. 57 ;—L. oryzivora, 

 Enl. 152, l;—L.fuscata, Vieill. pi. ]xn;—L.cyanea, Id. 64;— L. atricapilla. Id. 53; 

 — Z. nigra, Catesb. 1, 68; Vieill. Gal. 57;— Z. brasdiana, Enl. 309, 1 ;— Z. Ludovi- 

 czawa, Enl. 153, 2; Vieill. Gal. 58;— Z. pe/roma {Fring. peironia, L.), Enl. 255;— 

 Z. chloris, Enl. 267, 2;—L.hamatina, Vieill. pi. Ixvii, where the bill is too slender; 

 L. guttata. Id. 68, is a variety of the same; — Z. quinticolor, Id. 54; — Z. fasciata, 

 Brown, lU. xxvii; — Z. madagascariensis, Enl. 143, 2; — Z. ccerulea; — Z. cardinalis, 

 Enl. 37; — Z. melanura; — Z. coccolhraustes, Enl. 89 and 100; — L. ostrina, Vieill. Ois. 

 ch. 48, Gal. 60;— Z. rosea, Vieill., pi. Ixui. 



• !SS^ Add, L.vespertina, Bonap. II, pi, xiv, £ 1; — L. ludoviciana, Wils. II, pi. xvii, 

 f- 1; — L. carulea, Wils. Ill, pi. xxiv, i vi; — L. purpurea, Wils. I, pi. vii, f. 4. — 

 Eng.Ed. > ' i' f > 



