284 SHARP-TAILED FINCH. 



Adult Female. Plate CXLIX. Fig. 2. 



The female is coloured like the male, but the tints are a little fainter. 



This species is allied in form and habits to the Sea-side Finch, Frin- 

 gilla maritima, with which, however, it cannot possibly be confounded by 

 any person possessing the least observation. The description of that spe- 

 cies in my first volume being defective in several particulars, I here sub- 

 join a more accurate account of its colouring and dimensions taken from a 

 number of specimens. 



Bill dark brown above, paler on the sides ; the lower mandible bluish- 

 grey, but in some individuals dusky. Iris hazel. Feet and claws grey- 

 ish-blue, tinged with brown. Crown of the head bluish- grey in the mid- 

 dle, deep-brown at the sides, the feathers black along the centre. Hind 

 neck dull grey, tinged with brown ; back dark brown tinged with grey, 

 some of the feathers edged with greyish-white. Primary quills wood- 

 brown, secondary dark brown edged with reddish-brown ; the secondary 

 and smaller coverts principally of the latter colour ; the edge of the wing 

 vellow. Tail-feathers wood-brown, with a central line of blackish-brown, 

 excepting the lateral, which are plain and paler. A broad yellowish- 

 brown streak from the base of the bill over the eye, but not extending 

 beyond it. Throat and fore neck greyish-white, with a streak of bluish- 

 grey on each side. Breast and sides dull greyish-white, tinged with yel- 

 lowish-red, and streaked with dusky ; the middle of the breast and the 

 abdomen greyish-white; under tail-coverts pale yellowish-brown, streaked 

 Tvith dusky. 



Length 6| inches, extent of wings 8; bill along the back /^j, along 

 the edge /g ; tarsus \%. 



Fringilla maritima is a much larger bird than F. caudacuta ; the bill 

 is proportionally more elongated ; instead of the broad yellowish-red band 

 over the eye, it has a narrow and much shorter one of a duller tint ; the 

 band of the same colour beneath the eye is wanting, and the under parts 

 are differently coloured and much duller. The third and fourth quills 

 are longest in F. maritima, the second and third in F. caudacuta, while 

 in the former the first is much shorter, and in the latter very little. 



