440 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Family FRIN6ILLID.SI. — The Finches. 



Char. Primaries nine. Bill very ishort, abruptly conical, and robust. Commissure 

 strongly angulutetl at ba.-^e of bill. Tarsi scutellate anterioily, but the sides with two un- 

 divided plates njeeting behind along the median line, as a sharji posterior ridge. Eyes 

 hazel or brown, except in Pipilo, wiiere they are reddish or yellowish. Nest and e^^^s 

 very variable as to character and situation. 



I still labor under the inability expressed in Birds of North America 

 (p. 400), in 18,j8, to satisfactorily detine and limit the subfamilies and genera 

 of the Ft'liujillulcr of North America, and can only hope that l)y the aid of 

 the figures of the present work no material difficulty will be experienced in 

 determining the species. The distinctions from the allied families are also 

 difficidt to draw with precision. This is especially the case with the 

 Tana(jrida\ where we have much the same external anatomy, including the 

 bill, nearly all the varying peculiarities of this member in the one being 

 repeated in the other. — S. F. B. 



All the United States species may be provisionally divided into four sub- 

 families (the European House-Sparrow fonuiug a fifth), briefly characterizable 

 as follows : — 



Coccothraustinae. Bill variable, from enormously large to quite small ; the base 

 of the upi>er niandilde almost always provided with a close-pressed fringe of bristly 

 feathers (more or less conspicuous) concealing the nostrils. Wings very long and pointed, 

 usually one halt to one third longer than the forked or emarginate tail. Tarsi short. 



Pyrgitinae. Bill robust, swollen, arched above without distinct ridge. Lower mandi- 

 ble at base narrower than upper. Nostrils covered ; side of maxilla with stiff apprcssed 

 bristles. Tarsi short, not longer than middle Xoe. Tail shorter than the somewhat 

 pointed wings. Back streaked ; under parts not streaked. 



Spizellinse. Embracing all the plain-colored sparrow-like species marked with longi- 

 tudinal stripes. Bill conical, always rather small; both mandibles about equal. Tarsi 

 lengthened. Wings and tail variable. Lateral clav-s never reaching beyond the base of 

 the middle claw. 



Passerellinae. Sparrow-like species, with triangular spot? beneath. Legs, toes, and 

 claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching nearly to the end of the middle oni's. 



Spizinae. Brightly colored species, usually without streaks. Bill usually very large 

 and much curved ; lower mandible wider than the upper. Wings moderately long. Tail 

 variable. 



SuBFAjniY COCCOTHRAUSTIN-ffi.— -The true Finches. 



Char. Wings very long and much pointed ; generally one third longer than the more 

 or less forked tail ; first quill usually nearly f»s long as or longer than the second. Ter- 

 tiaries but little longer, or equal to the secondaries, and alwax's much excee<led by the 

 primaries. Bill very variable in shape and size, the upper niindible, however, as broad as 

 the lower; nostrils rather more lateral than usual; and always more or less concealed by 

 a series of small bristly feathers applieil along the ba.se of the upper mandible ; no bristles 



