30 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



THE FINCHES. FAMILY FRINGILLID^E. 



The great family of Finches is of wide distribution in both 

 hemispheres. It is especially characteristic of the northern 

 parts of both the Old and New Worlds, and its members 

 possess an exceeding diversity of form, so that the characters 

 of the family are not easily tabulated. They possess only nine 

 primary quills, and are remarkable for their conical-shaped 

 bill, which has gained for them the name of Conirostres in 

 most systems of classification. 



I have, in the " Catalogue of Birds " (vol. xii.), divided the 

 Finches into three sub-families, as follows : (i) Coccothrau- 

 stinae, or Grosbeaks, (2) Fringillinse, or Finches, and (3) Emberi- 

 zinae, or Buntings. 



THE GROSBEAKS. SUB-FAM. COCCOTHRAUSTIN^:. 



In these Finches the bill is extremely powerful, especially in 

 the typical forms, and in the skull the nasal bones are 

 extended backwards beyond the anterior line of the orbit. 

 In this sub-family are found all the Hawfinches and large 

 Grosbeaks of Europe and Asia, but there are no representa- 

 tions in Africa or Australia. Both North and South America 

 possess a large number of Grosbeaks, and some of the smaller 

 forms, such as Spermophila, are characteristic of the Neotropi- 

 cal region. 



THE GREENFINCHES. GENUS CHLORIS. 



Chloris, Cuv., Legons d'Anat. Comp., i., tab. 2 (1800). 



Type, C. chloris (Linn.). 



The Greenfinches have a very stout and conical bill, with 

 the nostrils placed high in the mandible, so that they are 

 situated nearer to the culmen than to the cutting edge 

 of the bill. The secondary quills are of ordinary form and 

 are not falcated or " bill-hook " shaped as in the Hawfinch, 

 which is the only other British Finch which has a stoutly- 

 built bill like the Greenfinch. 



Five species of true Greenfinches are known, our English 

 bird (C. chloris\ which extends throughout Europe to Central 



