INSESSORES. 525 



singular birds, of which the Bower-birds of Australia are per- 

 haps the most peculiar. These curious birds have the habit 

 of building very elaborate bowers, often very beautifully con- 

 structed and of considerable size, in which they amuse them- 

 selves and apparently make love to one another. These bowers 

 are wholly independent of their nests, which they construct 

 elsewhere. 



The last family of the Conirostres is that of the Fringillida, 

 comprising the Finches, Linnets, and Larks. In these birds 

 the bill is stout and conical, with a shark apex, but not having 

 the upper mandible toothed. The toes are adapted for perch- 

 ing, and are provided with long and curved claws, that of 

 the hinder toe being usually longer than the rest. They are 

 almost all monogamous, and they build more or less elaborate 

 nests. In this family are the 

 true Finches (Fringilla), the 

 Sparrows (Pyrgita], the Lin- 

 nets and Goldfinches (Car- 

 duelis), the Whydah Finches 

 ( Vidna), the Grosbeaks (Coc- 

 cothraustes), the Bullfinches 

 (Pyrrkula], and many others, 

 but their numbers are so great 

 that any further notice of 

 them is impossible here. It 



may be mentioned, however, Fig. 228. Head of the common Bullfinch 

 that the Finches of the Old jSr^iT^^ showingthl 

 World are represented in the 



tropical parts of America by the Tanagers (TanagrincR), remark- 

 able for their brilliant colours. 



The only remaining members of the Conirostres which 

 require notice are the Cross-bills (Loxiada], which are some- 

 times placed with the Finches, and sometimes considered 

 as a separate family. In these birds the structure of the beak 

 is so peculiar that its Conirostral character is completely 

 masked, and it has been looked upon as a deformity. Both 

 mandibles, namely, cross one another towards the tip, giving 

 the entire bill a most remarkable appearance. In point of 

 fact, however, instead of being a deformity, the bill of the 

 Cross-bills is a beautiful natural adaptation, enabling the bird 

 with the greatest facility to tear in pieces the hard fir-cones, on 

 the seeds of which it feeds. 



Sub-order 2. Dentirostres. The birds in this section are 

 characterised by the fact that the upper mandible is provided 

 with a distinct notch in its lower margin near the tip (fig. 227, D). 



