vii FRINGILLIDAE 587 



the Linnet, the Goldfinch, and their allies are blue, bluish-white, 

 or greenish, with reddish or brownish spots ; those of Buntings are 

 whitish, greenish, or ruddy, with brown, blackish, or rufous marks, 

 ordinarily including streaks and scrawls ; those of Petronia Irachy- 

 dactyla are white with blackish blotches ; those of the Hawfinch 

 green with olive and umber spots or lines ; those of the Snow- 

 finch white ; those of Spiza guiraca and some other American 

 species plain bluish or greenish. 



With the Fringillidae this volume ends, according to the 

 Classification which has been here adopted ; but it may be well 

 to take the opportunity of again reminding the reader that 

 the " Families " of Oscines are not of equal rank to those of the 

 Orders which precede them ; and that, as regards the arrange- 

 ment of these " Families," few writers will be found to agree ; 

 the truth being that there never can be a perfectly satisfactory 

 linear system, since affinities point in so many different directions. 

 When all these affinities have been finally investigated by 

 anatomists, if ever that time should come, they may very pos- 

 sibly necessitate an alphabetical arrangement of the groups, 

 with indications of their various relationships under each head. 



