KKINi.lLLlD.K THE FINCHES. 



491 



twigs, and tliinly HirmI with coarse liiiiis and tine shreds of inner l)ark. 

 Its external dianu^ter is a little less than f«mr inches, the rim being ahnost 

 perfectly circular; the cavity is an inch and a half deep l)y two and a half 

 hroad. 



The one egg is j>ale hhie, tlie large end ratlier tliickly spattered witli fine 

 dots of black and ashv-lilac ; is regularly or rather sliglitlv elou'tate-oval, 

 the small end rather obtuse. It measures .80 nf an inch in length by .50 in 

 breadth. 



(jIexus iEGIOTHUS, C\u\s. 



Acanthia, Ronap. foiispfctus, 18r»(>, not of B»'i.li.>t<'in, 1S02, nor of K(\vs. k Rlas. 1840. 

 yE(fio(/ii(s, t'AiiAM.s, Mus. Ili'in. 1S'»1, 161. (Ty|M>, Friinjilhi Ihuiria^ Lixx.) — Cuii:s, Pr. 

 Acad. Nut. 8r. I'liil. ItjOl, ;{73 ; 1S03, 40; ist'.n, 180. 



Sp. Char. Bill very short, ooiiiojil, aciitrly pointed, the oiitlim'^ somt'tiincs concuvf; tli«* 

 conuuissnre straiirht ; the l)ase of the 

 upper niaiulil)le ami the nostrils eoii- 

 cealed hy .stilT, appressed l)ristly feathers; 

 middle of the inandiMe having several 

 ridges parallel with the eulmeii. In- 

 ner lateral toe rather the loni:»M-, its 

 claw reaohinp: the middle of the middle 

 claw; the himl toe rather lonir'T, its 

 claw loncrer than the tlij^Mtal jtortion. 

 Winnfs very long, rearhin;.'" the mitldle 

 of the tail; second quill a little longer 

 than the first and third. Tail deeply 

 forked. 



^Es;ioUius linarius. 



DIfficidt as it sometimes is to define with precision tlie diameters of closely 

 allied species of birds, tiiere are few genera where this is the case more 

 strikingly than in jrEgiothus. Leaving out of view tlie peculiar European 

 species, it has been a mooted question whether North America, including 

 Greenland, possesses one. two, or six species, owing to tlie strictly boreal 



distribution of these birds, and the iact 

 that their summer resorts are seldom in- 

 vaded by the naturalist. The necessary 

 means of determining the proper distri- 

 bution of the forms and the variations 

 with season, locality, and sex, are scarce- 

 ly to be met with in any jiublic mu- 

 seum, that of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, however, being the most complete in 

 this respect 



To Dr. Coues, as quoted above, we owe 

 the most satisfixctory indications of the ditlerent species and varieties, his 

 papers in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences 



.^iothus linarius. 



