284 LIGURINUS 



half of outer tail-feathers yellow, all rectrices being margined with slate- 

 grey ; lores blackish ; under parts greenish yellow, the flanks and lower 

 abdomen slaty grey, the lower breast and middle of abdomen bright 

 yellow ; bill dull reddish brown, darker at the tip and paler at the base 

 below ; legs fleshy wood-brown ; iris hazel. Culmen 0'5, wing 3 55, tail 

 2 - 5, tarsus 0'7 inch. The female is less brightly coloured, and less marked 

 with yellow. 



Hob. Europe as far north as Sundsvall in Sweden ; accidental 

 in Madeira ; east as far as Persia and north-western Turkestan, 

 wintering in north-west Africa. 



Inhabits groves, the outskirts of forests, gardens, and 

 cultivated places, and unless protected is somewhat shy. It 

 feeds chiefly on seeds, but will eat berries and insects. It is 

 not a true migrant but a wanderer in the autumn and winter. 

 Its flight is strong, resembling that of a sparrow. Its call-note 

 is a harsh and prolonged schddr and its song is not of a high 

 order. Nidification commences in April and the eggs are 

 deposited in May, a second brood being often raised in the 

 season. The nest is placed in a hedge, on a bush or a tree, 

 and is a fairly neat structure of grass-bents, rootlets, moss, and 

 wool, lined with similar but finer materials, and the eggs 4 to 6 

 in number are white with a faint sea-green tinge, sparingly 

 marked with pale purplish red shell- and deep red surface -spots 

 and blotches, averaging about 0'8 by 0'6, and the markings are 

 usually more numerous at the larger end. 



Specimens from the southern portion of its range are rather 

 brighter in coloration and extremely bright varieties from 

 Palestine and Syria have been separated under the name 

 L. chloroticus and intermediate varieties from Algeria under 

 that of Z. aurantiivenlris (Cab.) Mus. Hein. i. p. 158, but after 

 a careful comparison of a series I cannot acknowledge either, 

 even as a subspecies. 



417. CHINESE GREENFINCH. 

 LIGURINUS SINICUS. 



Ligurinus s'micus (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 321, (1766) ; (David and Oust.) 

 Ois. Chine, p. 338 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 26 ; (Tacz.) 

 F. O. Sib. O. p. 629 ; (Seebohm), B. Jap. Emp. p. 127. 



Kawarahiwa, Jap. 



$ ad. (Japan). Differs from L. chloris in having the crown ashy grey 

 with an olive tinge darker on the forehead, the upper parts chocolate- 

 brown washed with olive-yellow, the yellow wing-patch much larger, most 



