3§4 



TROPICAL AMERICA AND ITS ANIMALS 



broad black band along the sides of its head. Another handsome finch is the 

 red-beaked Pitylus fuliginosus of Brazil. 



The cherry-finches are confined to the South American region, among them 

 being the monk-finch (Sporophila nigro-aurantia) of Brazil. The siskins have a 

 representative in the red siskin (Chrysomitris, or Spinus, cucuUata) of Venezuela 

 and Trinidad, which is grey above and white below, with a red throat and head, 

 and a pointed crest. The bird is rather larger than a chaffinch, but the glossy, 

 bluish black satin-finch (Volatinia splendens) of tropical America is much smaller, 

 and belongs to a genus with one other species. One of the sparrow buntings, the 



morning-finch (Zonotrichia 

 pileata), is South American, 

 as is also the saffron-finch 

 (Sycalis flaveola), which 

 is confined to the eastern 

 side of the continent, and 

 belongs to a group all of 

 whose members are South 

 American. 



Among the troupials, 

 the South American repre- 

 sentatives of the starlings 

 of the Old World, the com- 

 mon Icterus vulgaris of 

 Colombia and Venezuela, is 

 black, white and orange- 

 yellow in colour. Nearly 

 allied is the Brazilian silky 

 cow-bird (Agelceus bonari- 

 ensis), a glossy black bird 

 with violet or greenish reflec- 

 tions. Among the cassiques, 

 distinguished by a rounded, 

 horny shield at the base of 

 the upper half of the beak, 

 it will suffice to mention 

 the crested Cassicus cristatus. The black starlings again, also distinguished by a 

 shield on the head, are confined to the north of South America; the common 

 black starling (Cassidix ater) being of the size of the European missel-thrush, 

 with a pale violet gloss on the head and throat. Another group of glossy black 

 plumage is represented in South America by the mourning-bird (CJtalcopltanes 

 lugubris). 



In the crow family the Urraca jay (Cyanocorax chrysops), a bird of the size of 

 a jackdaw, inhabits southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. It is easily 

 recognised by its large head-crest, and the white of the under-parts below the 

 upper portion of the breast. 



In the American greenlets, Cyclorhis guianensis, of Guiana and northern 



GREY CARDINAL. 



