CARPODACUS. 45 



Genus CARPODACUS. 



The Rose-Finches appear to have been unknown to Brisson andTjinnaeus, 

 and, after they were discovered, were placed by different writers with the 

 Crossbills, the Hawfinches, the Bullfinches, &c., until, in 1828, Brehm 

 established the genus Erythrina for their reception (Isis, 1828, p. 1276). 

 This name, however, may be rejected, on the ground that it had already 

 been applied in 1767 by Linnaeus, in his * Systema Naturae/ ii. p. 4/3, to 

 a genus of plants. In 1829 Kaup established the genus Carpodacus, in 

 his 'Natiirliches System/ p. 161, making C. erythrinus the type. 



The Rose-Finches resemble the birds in the preceding genus in the 

 general distribution of their colour, and ought never to have been generi- 

 cally separated from them. The name Carpodacus, however, has been so 

 extensively applied to them that it may be retained, to avoid unnecessary 

 change. They may be distinguished by the shape of the upper mandible, 

 which in its profile shows an even curve meeting the point of the lower 

 mandible, instead of a curve somewhat suddenly bent or hooked over the 

 latter. 



The geographical distribution of the birds in this genus is precisely 

 similar to that in the preceding one. They are confined to the Palaearctic 

 and Nearctic Regions, extending in the former into the Himalayas and in 

 the latter into the tablelands of Mexico. They number about twenty 

 species, only four of which are found in the western portions of the Palae- 

 arctic Region. One of these is an accidental visitor to the British Islands. 



In their habits the Rose-Finches do not differ much from the allied 

 species. Their haunts are very similar to those of the birds in the pre- 

 ceding genus ; bat the birds do not appear to be so much confined to the 

 conifer growth, and breed in cultivated districts and amongst deciduous 

 trees. In winter, when they are more or less gregarious, their haunts are 

 much more varied than in summer, their choice being influenced only by 

 the presence of the food-supply. They possess considerable powers of 

 song. Their nests are open, resembling those of their allies ; and their 

 eggs are five or six in number, blue of different shades, spotted with 

 blackish brown. Their food consists of buds, seeds, and insects of various 

 kinds. 



