86 BRITISH BIRDS. 



The Serin is a miniature Canary, and though much more streaked on 

 the flanks scarcely differs -from that species except in size and proportion. 

 The wing of the Canary is about 2'9 inches in length, whilst that of the 

 Serin is about 2'8, and it is probable that large examples of the latter 

 have a wing as long as small examples of the former. The difference 

 in the length of the respective tails of the two birds is, however, much 

 more important : that of the Siskin is under 2 inches, whilst that of the 

 Canary is over 2 inches. 



The Serin bears some superficial resemblance to the Siskin; but the 

 black crown of the male of the latter and the yellow bases of the tail- 

 feathers in both sexes are sufficient to distinguish them. The shape of the bill 

 is also quite different. In the Serin the profile of the bill shows an arched 

 instead of a nearly straight upper mandible, and seen from above it 

 represents a cone with convex instead of concave sides. Some ornitho- 

 logists, whose apparent object has been to introduce as much confusion 

 as possible into our nomenclature, have placed these convex-billed birds 

 in a separate genus, which they call Serinus. Besides the Canary and 

 the Serin, it contains Tristram's Serin (Fringilla canonicus) and the 

 Red-fronted Finch (F. pusilla) . The former is a local race of the Canary 

 which is resident in Palestine, and differs from it in being somewhat 

 yellower and less striated both above and below; the latter is a resident 

 in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Persia, Turkestan, and Cashmere, and is 

 somewhat distantly related to the Serin, from which it may at once be 

 distinguished by its black throat and the orange-red instead of yellow pre- 

 vailing tints of the plumage. 



In the adult male Serin in breeding-plumage the forehead, a line over 

 each eye, the rump, the throat, breast, and belly are bright yellow; the 

 feathers of the rest of the upper parts and the flanks are dark brown, mar- 

 gined with yellow ; the greater and median wing-coverts are dark brown 

 tipped with yellow, and the wings and tail-feathers are brown margined 

 with yellow ; the under tail-coverts are nearly white. Bill dark horn, paler 

 at the base of the lower mandible ; legs, feet, and claws pale brown ; irides 

 dark brown. The female is slightly duller in colour than the male, and 

 after the autumn moult the yellow feathers, especially of the head, have 

 buff margins. 



A specimen of the Yellow-rumped Seed-eater (Crithagra chrysopyga) was 

 recorded as a British bird in the 'Naturalist' for 1853 (p. 20) by Mr. 

 W. Hazel; it is said to have been taken near Portsmouth. There can 

 scarcely be a doubt that the bird had escaped from confinement, having been 

 brought to that port by some vessel from the West- African coast, where it 

 is a native. 



