PASSERINE. 301 
Vinva, Cuv.(1) 
The Widows, as they are termed, are birds of Africa and India, 
which have the beak of a Linnet, sometimes slightly inflated at the 
base, and distinguished by having some of the quills of the tail, or 
of its upper coverts, excessively elongated in the males.(2) 
There is a gradual transition, and without any assignable interval, 
from the Linnets to, (3) 
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CoccoTuraustEs, Cuv. . 
Or the Grosbeaks, whose exactly conical beak is only distinguished 
by its excessive size. 
Loxia coccothraustes, L., Enl. 99 and 1003 Naum. 114. | (The 
Common Grosbeak.) Is one of those that are most truly worthy 
of the name. Its enormous beak is yellowish; back and calotte 
brown; rest of the plumage greyish; throat and quills of the 
wings, black; a white band on the wings. It inhabits the moun- 
(1) It is not easy to see why Linnzus and Gmelin arranged:them with the Bunt- 
ings, by the names of Emberiza regia, (Enl. 8, 1);—Emb. serena, (Ib-, 2);—Hmb. 
paradisea (Enl. 194);—Emb. panayensis (Enl. 647);—Emb. longicauda (Enl. 635). 
Add, Fringilla superciliosa, Vieill. Gal. 61. If we do not leave the Widows with 
the Linnets, there is no other place for them except among the Grosbeaks. 
+(2), In the Veuve a. épaulettes (V. longicauda) the coverts only are elongated; in 
_the others, it is the quills. N.B. The Emb. principalis, (Edw. 270) and the Emb. 
vidua (Aldrow. Orni. II, 565) appear to me to be the same bird in different states 
of plumage. The Emb. psittacea, Seb. I, pl. Ixvi, fig. 5, is not very authentic, The 
angolensis, Salern. Orni. 277; the Veuve chrysoptéere, Vieill. Ois. ch. pl. xli, andthe 
Lox. macrourd, Enl. 283, 1, which, perhaps, do not differ from it, are not Widows, , 
but common Grosbeaks. 
Lin.) 101, 2, the same as the Gros bec longicone, Tem. Col. ;-—L. sanguinirostris, 
Enl. 183, 2;—Z. molucca, Enl. 139,' 2;—L. variegata, Vieill. 51;—L. punctulata, 
Ib. 1;—L. maja, Enl. 109, 1;—L. striata, Enl. 153, 1;—L. nitida, Vieill. 50;—L. 
malacca, Enl. 139, 3;—L. astrild., Enl. 157, 2;—L. bella, Vieill. 55:—L. constans, 
Id. 57;—L. oryzivora, Enl. 152, 1;—L. fuscata, Vieill. pl. Ixii;—L. atricapilla,1d., 
53;—L. nigra, Catesb. 1, 68; Viéill. Gal. 57;—Z. brasiliana, Enl. 309, 1;—L. pe- 
‘ tronia (Fring. petronia, L.) Enl. 255;—L. chloris, Enl. 267, 2;—L. hematina, 
Vieill. pl. xvii, where the beak is too slender; LZ. guituta, Id. 68, is a variety of 
the same;—Z. quinticolor, Id. 54;——L. fasciata, Brown, Ill., xxvii;—L. madugas- 
| cariensis, Enl. 143, 2;—L. cerulea;—L. cardinalis, Enl. 37;—L. melanura; —L. 
Be islee, Enl. 89 and 100;—Z. ostrina, Vieill. Ois. ch. 48, Gal. 60;—L. rosea, 
‘Vieill., pl. Ixiii. . 
_ Add, Z. vespertina, Bonap. U, pl. xiv, f. 1;—Z. ludoviciana, Wils. Il, pl. xvii, f. 
, (aS cxrulea, Wils., Ul, pl. xxiv, f. vi;—L. purpurea, Wils. I, pl. vii, f. 4. 
_ Am. Edit. , 
’ (3) This transition is effected, in the species I have been able to examine, in ° 
the following order, the beak always increasing in size: Lowia quadricolor, (Ember. » 
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