FINCHES. 



389 



countries. The bill is short and much arched, with both mandibles much curved. 

 The wings are very long, reaching within a third of an inch of the end of the tail, 

 when closed, and the metatarsus is comparatively long. The plumage of both 

 sexes in this genus is grey or brown, suffused with pink. The desert-finch 

 {Erythrospiza githaginea), the western representative of the genus, is found in 

 the Canaries, the Sahara, and Egypt, extending eastwards through Afghanistan 

 and Baluchistan to the Punjab, while the Mongolian desert-finch (E. mongolica) 

 inhabits the deserts of Central Asia, extending its range eastwards into Western 

 China. 



The common desert-finch is an inhabitant of the most sterile regions. Its habits 

 in the Canaries have been described by Dr. Bolle, who writes that " it is always 



^j?%l 



DESERT-FINCH (g liat. size). 



found in sociable little groups, when the cares of the breeding-season do not keep 

 it solitary. The cheerful little bird dances from stone to stone, or glides about 

 near the ground ; but seldom can our sight follow it far into the landscape, for the 

 reddish-grey feathers of the old bird mix closely with the colours of the stones 

 and leafless stems and twigs of euphorbia, as the buff of the young does with the 

 pale yellow of the sand or chalk. We should lose it if its voice, which is one of 

 its most striking peculiarities, did not guide us to it. Listen ! A note like that of 

 a small trumpet trembles through the air and vibrates continuously ; and if we are 

 very attentive, we shall hear, just before and just after it, two gentle, light notes, 



