PASSERES — FRINGILLID.E — COCCOBORUS. 145 



FAMILY FRINGILLIDJE. 



Bill short, robust, less thick than the head, conic, acute and very slightly curved at the tip ; 

 edges generally entire : upper mandible wider than the lower. Nostrils basal, roundish, 

 partly concealed by short bristly feathers. Tarsus compressed, with seven or eight ante- 

 rior scutellce, shorter than the middle toe : lateral toes subequal ; hind nail longest. Roof 

 of the mouth concave, with three prominent ridges, of which the middle is sometimes ele- 

 vated into a hard prominence. Tongue compressed, pointed. 



GENUS COCCOBORUS. Swainson. 



Bill very robust, almost as broad as the head, somewhat compressed, tapering to a point. 

 Upper mandible convex above, smaller than the lower, and with distinct bristles at its base ; 

 the edges ascending for a third of their length, then direct ; the notches faint. 



THE BLUE GROSBEAK. 



COCCOBORUS CERULEUS. 

 PLATE LXIV. FIG. 146. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 

 Loxta cerulea. Linn^us, p. 206. 



Blue Grosbeak. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 351. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 3, p. 78, pi. 24, fig. 6 (male), 

 Fringilla ( ' Coccothraustes ) cerulea. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 114. 



F. id. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 529. Accobon, folio, pi. 122. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 134. Peabody, 

 Zool. Mass. p. 330. Aodubon, B. of A. Vol. 3, p. 204, pi. 204. 



Characteristics. Deep blue. Lores and frontlet black : wings and tail dusky ; the former 

 edged with chesnut. Female : Head and hind part of the back blue. 

 Young, yellowish brown ; lighter beneath. Length, 7*5. 



Description. Bill forming a continuous curve with the forehead. Upper mandible broadly 

 notched near the base, and a slight notch near the tip. Second, third and fourth primaries 

 longest, subequal. Tail rounded, nearly even. Middle toe and claw subequal with the tarsus. 

 A few small porrect bristles at the base of the upper mandible. Tail 1*4 longer than the 

 tips of the closed wings. 



Color. Brilliant blue. Lores, chin and frontlet black. Wings and tail dusky black ; the 

 latter and the quills edged with blue. Wing-coverts edged with chesnut-brown. Lower 

 mandible lightest. Legs dusky. Female : Head and posterior part of the back bright blue. 

 Sides and breast tinged with blue. Anterior part of the back brown. Wings and tail dusky ; 

 the coverts of the former edged with chesnut. Beneath yellowish brown. Young, yellowish 

 brown, tinged with darker brown ; rather lighter beneath. Wings and tail dark blackish 

 brown. Length, 6 - 5 -7- 5. Alar spread, 10-0- 1 1-0. 

 [Fauna— Part 2.] 19 



