20 PRAIRIE FINCH. 



their wings, at the same time singing something like weet, weet, v;t, wt, 

 ii't, notes betwixt the hurried warble of the Bob-o-link, and the melody 

 of the Sky Lark. It is in short one of the sweetest songsters of the 

 prairie, is tame and unsuspicious, the whole employment of the little 

 band being an ardent emulation of song." 



Fringilla bicolor, Phathie finch, Townsend, Journal of Acad, of Nat. Sciences 

 of Philadelphia, vol. vii. p. 189. 



Adult Male. Plate CCCXC. Fig. 2. 



Bill short, robust, conical, compressed ; upper mandible a little nar- 

 rower, with the dorsal line very slightly convex, the ridge slightly pro- 

 longed on the forehead, the sides convex and bulging, the edges direct, the 

 gape-line nearly straight, deflected at the base, the tip sharp and a lit- 

 tle exceeding that of the lower mandible ; the angle of the latter short 

 and very broad, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the back 

 broad, the sides roimded, the edges inflected, the tip pointed. Nostrils 

 basal, oval, in a very short deep depression, nearly concealed by the 

 feathers. 



Head rather large ; neck short ; body full. Feet of ordinary length, 

 rather strong; tarsus of moderate length, compressed, anteriorly covered 

 with seven scutella, behind with two plates meeting so as to form a 

 very thin edge ; toes of moderate size, the hind toe stouter, the lateral 

 equal. Claws rather long, arched, much compressed, laterally grooved, 

 tapering to a very acute point. 



Plumage soft and blended, the feathers ovate and roimded. There 

 are distinct but small bristles at the base of the upper mandible. Wings 

 of moderate length ; the outer three quills nearly equal, the second 

 being longest, the fourth slightly shorter than the third ; outer secon- 

 daries broadly rounded and emarginate ; inner tapering to a rounded 

 point, one of them, when the wing is closed, little shorter than the outer 

 primaries. Tail of moderate length, a little rounded, the lateral fea- 

 thers shorter than the longest by two and a half twelfths. 



The bill is light blue, the upper mandible somewhat dusky along 

 the ridge ; the feet and claws reddish-brown. The general colour of 

 the plumage is greyish-black, the rump blackish-grey. The quills are 

 blackish-brown, the inner secondaries black. There is a large patch of 



