FRINGILLID^E. 179 



bited at different periods, owing to the wearing off 

 of the broad margins of the feathers. The male bird 

 has the beak bluish black ; irides brown ; the head, 

 neck, back and scapulars black, so broadly margined 

 with rusty orange as scarcely to show the black ; in 

 the spring the margins quite wear off, especially from 

 the head and neck, which are then black glossed with 

 blue ; rump white ; tail- coverts black, margined with 

 rusty ; lesser wing-coverts rusty orange ; greater 

 black, tipped with rusty orange, forming a bar of 

 that colour across the wing; quills dusky, very 

 narrowly edged with light dull yellow, and with a 

 small portion of white at the base of the outer web ; 

 tertials black, rather broadly margined with rusty 

 orange ; tail-feathers black, slightly edged with dull 

 yellowish white (the outer feather on each side has 

 a patch of dull white on the inner web) ; throat and 

 breast rusty orange ; belly and under tail-coverts 

 white ; flanks rusty orange and white, mixed with a 

 few dull spots; legs, toes and claws light brown. 

 The female has the head dull brown, the centres of 

 the feathers nearly black, the nape dull bluish grey, 

 on each side of which are two irregular patches of 

 black ; a streak over the eye, cheeks and ear-coverts 

 dull light brown, tinged with rusty ; sides of the neck 

 bluish grey ; back dull light brown, tinged with rusty, 

 the centres of the feathers nearly black ; scapulars 

 very dull rusty orange ; rump and tail-coverts bluish 

 grey dusky and white mixed; quills dusky, very 



