246 INSESSORES. ACCENTOR. 



lilac-purple. Chin and throat ash-grey. Belly and 

 flanks yellowish-brown. Under tail-coverts black. Nape 

 of the neck and the back yellowish-brown, tinged with 

 orange. Scapulars wood-brown. Greater quills black- 

 ish-grey, having their outer webs edged with white. 

 Secondaries edged with orange-brown. Tail long and 

 wedge-shaped, orange-brown ; the exterior feathers ha- 

 ving their outer webs and tips pale reddish- white. Legs 

 and toes black. 

 The female has the lengthened feathers (forming the 

 moustaches), the chin, breast, and sides of the neck, 

 white, with a tinge of pink. Crown of the head wood- 

 brown ; the occiput spotted with black. Back yellow- 

 ish-brown, with a list of black spots down the middle. 

 Vent, and under tail-coverts, pale yellowish, or inclining 

 to wood-brown. 



Genus ACCENTOR, Bechst. ACCENTOR. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill strong, straight, of mean length, and drawn to a fine 

 point; the tomia of both mandibles bending slightly in- 

 wards ; and the upper mandible emarginated. Nostrils ba- 

 sal, naked, and pierced in a large membrane. Legs strong. 

 Toes three before and one behind ; the outer one joined at 

 its base to the middle toe. Wings having the first quill very 

 short, and the secgnd a little shorter than the third, which is 

 the longest. 



The few members of this genus are birds of a hardy tem- 

 perament, and brave without difficulty the rigours of our 

 sharpest winters. Their food is seeds of various kinds, with 

 insects and worms. The two sexes differ but little in plu- 

 mage, and their moult appears to be simple. 



