YELLOW-WINGED SPARROW. 181 



Scarcely any difference is perceptible in the plumage of the sexes, and 

 by the time the young return to us the following spring, they have ob- 

 tained the full plumage of their parents. 



Fringilla passerina, Ch. Bonaparte, Sjnops. of Birds of the United States, p. 109. 

 Yellow-winged Sparrow, Fringilla passerina, Wils. Amer. Omith. vol. iii- 



p. 76. pi. 24. fig. 5. 

 Savannah Finch, or Yellow-shouldered Bunting (Fringilla savanarum, 



Gmel.) Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 494. 



Bill short, conical, acute ; upper mandible slightly convex in its dor- 

 sal outline, angular, and encroaching a little on the forehead, of the same 

 breadth as the lower, with sharp and inflected edges ; lower mandible also 

 inflected ont he edges ; gap-line slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils 

 basal, roundish, open, concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, 

 neck short, body full. Feet of moderate length, slender ; tarsus covered 

 anteriorly with a few longish scutella, acute behind ; toes free, scutellate 

 above, the lateral ones nearly equal ; claws slender, compressed, acute, 

 slightly arched, that of the hind toe elongated. 



Plumage soft and blended, slightly glossed. Wings shortish, curved, 

 rounded, the first and second primaries longest, the third scarcely shorter : 

 the secondaries long, but less so than in the Henslow Bunting, which be- 

 longs to the same group. Tail short, small, rounded, slightly emargi- 

 nate, of twelve narrow, tapering feathers. 



Bill flesh-coloured beneath, dusky above. Iris dark brown. Feet 

 light flesh-coloured. The general colour of the upper parts is light 

 greyish-brown, mixed on the neck with ash-grey tints, the central parts 

 of the feathers brownish-black, the margins of those of the back bright 

 chestnut. The upper part of the head brownish-black, with a longitudi- 

 nal central line of brownish- white. Secondary coverts dusky, margined 

 with greyish -white ; along the flexure of the wing the small feathers are 

 bright yellow, whence the name of the species. Quills wood-brown, mar- 

 gined with pale yellowish-brown. Tail-feathers of the same colour, the 

 outermost much paler. The under parts pale yellowish-grey, the breast 

 of a richer tint, being of a light yellowish-brown, its sides anteriorly spot- 

 ted with brownish-black. 



Length 4{ g inches, extent of wings 8 ; bill along the ridge p^ , along 

 the edge ^ ; tarsus |, middle toe a little more than 2, hind toe j\. 



