DESCRIPTIVE LIST 227 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Mandibles falcate, crossed at tip. Loxia. 



1. Mandibles not falcate, not crossed at tip. See 2. 



2. Head crested, bill very large. Cardinalis. 



2. Head not crested; bill various. See 3. 



3. Bill very large. See 4. 



3. Bill moderate. See 5. 



4. Color blue or brownish, unstreaked. Guiraca. 



4. Color black, varied with white and red, or olive-brown with whitish stripes on head. Zame- 



lodia. 



5. Gonys distinctly convex in profile, plumage streaked above, not below, no blue nor yellow. 



Passer. 



5. Gonys straight or nearly so. See 6. 



6. Primaries much longer than secondaries. See 7. 



6. Primaries not much longer than secondaries. See 13. 



7. Wing at least five times as long as the short tarsus. See 8. 



7. Wing not five times as long as tarsus. See 11. 



8. Wing more than 3 1/2 inches, tail largely white. Plectrophenax. 



8. Wing less than 3^ inches. See 9. 



9. Tail % as long as wing, nasal tufts conspicuous. Acanthis. 



9. Nasal tufts inconspicuous; tail less than two-thirds wing. See 10. 



10. Tail-feathers blotched with white. Astragalinus. 



10. Tail-feathers blotched with yellow at base. Spinus. 



11. Tail without white. Carpodacus. 



11. Tail blotched with white. See 12. 



12. Middle tail-feathers narrow and pointed, hind claw long and straight. Calcarius. 



12. Middle tail-feathers broad and rounded, hind claw short and curved. Chondestes. 



13. Tail-feathers, at least the outer ones, blotched with white. See 14. 



13. Tail-feathers not blotched with white. See 16. 



14. Breast streaked. Pocecetes. 



14. Breast dark, not streaked. See 15. 



15. Length 7 or more, wings with white blotch. Pipilo. 



15. Length 6.25 or less, wings without white. Junco. 



16. Tail-feathers narrow, at least the middle ones acuminate, back streaked. See 17. 



16. Tail-feathers broader, not acuminate. See 20. 



17. Breast with yellow, throat with more or less black. Spiza. 



17. Breast without yellow, throat without black. See 18. 



18. Outer pair of tail-feathers longer than middle pair, wing much longer than tail. Passer- 



culus. 



18. Outer pair of tail-feathers shorter than middle pair, wing not much, if any, longer than 



tail. See 19. 



19. Tail double rounded, the middle pair of quills much shorter than the next pair. Ammo- 



dramus. 



19. Tail graduated, the middle tail-feathers the longest. Passerherbulus. 



20. Hind claw decidedly longer than its toe; plumage streaked above and below. Passerella, 



20. Hind claw scarcely longer than its toe. See 21. 



21. Plumage more or less blue in male, lower mandible much deeper than upper. Passerina. 



21. Plumage streaked, no blue, lower mandible not deeper than upper. See 22. 



22. Tail more or less forked, the middle feathers the shortest, plumage unstreaked below, no 



yellow. Spizella. 



22. Tail rounded. See 23. 



23. Primaries exceeding secondaries by more than length of bill, head striped in adult. Zono- 



trichia. 



23. Primaries exceeding secondaries by not more than length of bill. See 24. 



24. Edge of wing yellow, plumage unstreaked below. Peuccea. 



24. No yellow anywhere, plumage streaked below, or else crown chestnut. Melospiza. 



Genus Carpodacus (Kaup) 

 213. Carpodacus purpureus purpureus (Gmel). PURPLE FINCH. 



Description. Ad. &. Body streaked, suffused with rose-red, strongest on the head, rump, 

 and breast, more brownish on the back; whiter, generally white, on the belly; wings and tail 

 brownish fuscous, the outer webs of the feathers finely edged with rose-red; a small tuft of bristly 

 feathers over the nostrils; outer tail-feathers longest. This plumage is acquired at the first post- 



