CHAFFINCH. .">! 1 



Madeira, as it has boon soon by Mr. Charles Darwin, 

 and another observer, as far west as Terceira, one of the 

 A /ores. 



The adult male in summer has the beak bluish lead 

 colour, with a tinge of purplish red on the under surface of 

 the under mandible ; the feathers over the base of the upper 

 inaudible black ; the irides hazel ; top of the head and 

 nape of the neck dark bluish grey ; back chestnut ; wings 

 almost black ; smaller wing-coverts white ; the greater 

 wing-coverts black at the base, tipped with white, the two 

 sets of wing-coverts forming two conspicuous white bars ; 

 all the quill-feathers dusky black, with narrow lighter- 

 coloured edges, the tertials with broader margins of buffy 

 white ; rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish green ; the 

 two middle tail-feathers greyish black, the next three on 

 each side nearly black ; the outer tail-feather on each 

 side white, with a narrow stripe of dusky black at the 

 base and at the tip ; the next feather on each side dusky 

 black, with a triangular patch of white on the inner web ; 

 the tail is very slightly forked ; the cheeks, ear-coverts, 

 chin, throat, breast, and flanks, a rich reddish brown, 

 becoming paler on the belly and under tail-coverts ; legs, 

 toes, and claws, brown. 



The whole length of the bird six inches. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and three- 

 eighths ; the first quill-feather a little longer than the fifth ; 

 the second, third, and fourth feathers equal in length, and 

 the longest in the wing. 



The female has the upper surface of the body more 

 mixed with dull brown, producing considerable uniformity 

 of colour ; the under surface is also of a dull fawn colour ; 

 the two white bars on the wings are rather less con- 

 spicuous. 



