SHARP- TAILED FINCH. 283 



Fringilla caudacuta, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 1 10. 

 Sharp-tailed Finch, Fringilla caudacuta, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. pi. 70. 



fig. 3. 

 Shore Finch, Fringilla littoralis, Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 504. 



Adult Male. Plate CXLIX. Fig. 1. 



Bill shortish, strong, conical, acute ; upper mandible of the same 

 breadth as the lower, convex on the sides, the tip acute and slightly de- 

 clinate ; lower mandible convex on the back and sides, and both involute 

 on the sharp edges. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, partially concealed 

 by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body rather robust. 

 Legs of moderate length, slender ; tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutel- 

 late, sharp behind ; toes rather large, free, scutellate above, tlie lateral 

 nearly equal, the hind toe strong ; claws arched, much compressed, 

 longish, acute, that of the hind toe larger. 



Plumage ordinary, soft and blended beneath. Wings short and much 

 curved ; the second and third primaries longest and equal, the fourth 

 scarcely shorter, the first and fifth about equal. Tail of ordinary length, 

 graduated, slender, the feathers narrow and pointed. 



Bill brownish-black above, the sides of the upper mandible yellow, 

 the lower mandible light bluish-grey. Iris hazel. Feet pale brown. 

 Crown of the head bluish-grey in the middle, deep brown at the sides, 

 the feathers black along the centre. Hind neck dull grey, tinged with 

 brown ; back brown, tinged with grey, some of the feathers marked with 

 black and edged with greyish- white. Primary quills wood-brown, secon- 

 dary dark brown, edged Avith reddish-brown ; the secondary and small 

 coverts principally of the latter colour. Tail-feathers wood-brown, with 

 a central line of blackish-brown, excepting the lateral, which are plain and 

 paler. A broad band of light yellowish-red from the base of the man- 

 dible over the eye ; ear-coverts grey ; fore neck pale yellowish-red, the 

 throat paler and unspotted, the rest streaked with dusky. The sides of 

 the same tint, but paler, and similarly streaked ; the middle of the breast 

 and the abdomen greyish white ; under tail-coverts pale yellowish-red. 



Length 5 inches, extent of wings 1\ ; bill along the back f |, along the 

 edge \^ ; tarsus j^g. 



