F R I N G I L L 



537 



instance clad in a much brig-liter livery than the hen 

 bird, the difference being most conspicuous in sum- 

 mer, as at the autumnal renovation of plumage the 

 new feathers are each fringed with a dusky edging 1 , 

 which gradually wears away from the bird in the en- 

 suing season. 



The species are, however, so very numerous, that 

 it is difficult to mention any general character which 

 will apply alike to the whole group, which therefore 

 can be satisfactorily described only in its subordinate 

 divisions separately. There are five or six leading 

 modifications in the form of the bill, some of which 

 are accompanied with very slight differences in the 

 other general characters. The family may le said to 

 commence with the Tanagrince, or Tanagers, a divi- 

 sion pertainins: exclusively to the American continent, 

 and comprising several genera and a considerable 

 number of species, most ot' which are adorned with 

 splendid, some with most gaudy, colours, and which 

 are by far the most insectivorous of the finch family, 

 subsisting chiefly upon beetles, grasshoppers, and the 

 other larger insect tribes ; but they shell grain with 

 the same facility as the other FrinillidcE. In this divi- 

 sion, as might be expected, we find many traces of 

 the JDeiilirosfral character (see article BIRD) ; and 

 indeed there is a regular and unbroken series of forms 

 connecting these birds with certain of the cotinga 

 family (Ampelidee), a group belonging to the Drnti- 

 rostrcH, and the great majority of members of which 

 inhabit the same countries, and display equally rich 

 arid showy plumage with the Tanagrhxe. In one 

 genus of the latter, Pyreya of authors, the Dent/rostral 

 icter is indeed pretty well made out ; but this 

 rill be more conveniently described in 

 in a separate article, TANAGEII. 



Painted Nonpareil. 



Immediately following these, and connecting them 



with the more typical finches, we have the genus 



S/tizfi, of C. L. Bonaparte, also inhabiting the new 



world, and containing birds of very bright and showy 



plumage. Its characters are intermediate between 



of the Tanagers and more typical finches, and, 



like the former, they would appear, from Wilson's 



liption of his "painted beauties" (or, to give it 



a more definite name, painted nonpareil. Spi'.a m), 



to be very insectivorous. This gaudy little bird is 

 often imported into this country, and live specimens 

 of it may be procured at several of the London shops 

 in which foreign birds are kept for sale. It is about 

 the size of a goldfinch ; the head, and upper part 

 and sides of the neck, are bright purplish blue ; eye- 

 lid, chin, and all the under parts, vermilion ; back 

 and scapulars glossy yellow, stained with rich green, 

 in the older individuals with red ; lesser wing-coverts 

 purple ; larger green ; wings dusky red, sometimes 

 edged with green ; rump and tail-coverts bright red ; 

 tail, which is slightly forked, sometimes of a purplish 

 brown, sometimes green ; legs and feet leaden grey ; 

 bill black above and bluish below ; irides brown. 

 Such are the brilliant tints of one of the commonest 

 birds of the more southern of the United States of 

 America. 



These birds are caught in great numbers by the 

 American bird-catchers, and kept in confinement on 

 account of their beauty. The mode of catching them 

 is somewhat curious, as described by Audubon : 

 " A male bird, in full plumage, is shot, and stuffed in 

 a defensive attitude, and perched among some grass- 

 seed, rice, or other food, on the same platform as the 

 trap-cage. This is taken to the fields, or near the 

 orangeries, and placed in so open a situation that it 

 would be difficult for a living bird of any species to 

 fly over it without observing it. The trap is set. A 

 male painted finch passes, perceives it, and dives 

 towards the stuffed bird, brings down the trap, and is 

 made prisoner. In this manner thousands of these 

 birds are caught every spring ; and so pertinacious 

 are they in their attacks, that, even when the trap has 

 closed upon them, they continue pecking at the 

 feathers of the supposed rival." 



This species is described by Wilson to be one of 

 the most numerous of the little summer birds of 

 Lower Louisiana, where it is universally known 

 among the French inhabitants, and called by them le 

 Papc, and by the Americans the Nonpareil. " Its gay 

 dress and docility of manners," he says, " have pro- 

 cured it many admirers, for these qualities are strongly 

 attractive, and carry their own recommendation along 

 with them. The low countries of the southern states, 

 in the vicinity of the sea, and along the borders of 

 our large rivers, particularly among the rice planta- 

 tions, are the favourite haunts of this elegant little 

 bird." 



The same naturalist has furnished us with a de- 

 tailed account of another species, the Indigo Non- 

 pareil (Spiza cyanea'), another beautiful summer 

 visitant of the United States. " This is another," he 

 observes, "of those rich-plumaged tribes that visit us 

 in spring from the regions of the south. It arrives in 

 Pennsylvania in the second week in May, and disap- 

 pears about the middle of September. Notwithstand- 

 ing the beauty of his plumage, the \ivucity with 

 which he sings, and the ease wiih which he can be 

 reared and kept, the Indigo bird is seldom seen 

 domesticated." 



According to Bechstein, the song of this bird 

 resembles considerably that of our common linnet. 



The Iift-uH Nonpareil (S/)iza rtmoiti} is also ;i 

 splendid species, which appears to be rather rare, and 

 more limited in its locality than the others. It re- 

 sembles the Indigo bird in size and habits, and is 

 found, during the summer months, along the Arkansavv 

 river, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, where it 

 is described .to frequent the bushy valleys, keeping 



