48 BLACK-AND-YELLOW-CROWNED FINCH. 



tip a little declinate ; lower mandible with the angle short and rounded, 

 the dorsal line slightly convex, the sides rounded, the edges involute, 

 the point acute. The gape-line nearly straight, at the base a little de- 

 clinate ; the palate concave. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, partially 

 concealed by the feathers. 



Head rather large, ovate ; neck short ; body full. Legs of mode- 

 rate length, rather stout ; tarsus of moderate length, compressed, co- 

 vered anteriorly with seven scutella ; toes rather large, scutellate 

 above, the first stronger, the lateral nearly equal, the third and fourth 

 connected at the base. Claws rather long, moderately arched, slender, 

 compressed, laterally grooved, acute. 



Plumage full, soft, and blended. Wings of ordinary length ; the 

 first quill two and a half twelfths shorter than the second, which is 

 longest, but scarcely exceeds the third, which in like manner is very 

 slightly longer than the fourth, the other primaries moderately gra- 

 duated ; the outer secondaries slightly emarginate, the inner not elong- 

 ated. Tail long, rounded. 



Bill reddish-brown, dusky toward the point ; feet flesh-coloured, 

 claws dusky. The upper part of the head is black, with a longitudi- 

 nal median band of yellow, changing behind to grey ; upper parts yel- 

 lowish-brown, tinged with grey, the feathers of the fore part of the 

 back, scapulars, and wing-coverts with a central dusky spot ; quills 

 and larger coverts dark brown, bordered with reddish-brown, paler on 

 the primaries ; the tips of the first row of small coverts, and of the se- 

 condary coverts, white, forming two bands across the wing. Tail 

 greyish-brown, the feathers edged with yellowish-grey. The sides of 

 the head, throat, fore part and sides of the neck, sides of the body, and 

 fore part of the breast, light grey, the sides tinged with yellow, the 

 rest of the lower parts brownish-white. 



Length to end of tail 8 inches ; bill along the ridge ^ ; wing from 

 flexure 3i% ; tail S^^j ; tarsus J'| ; hind toe i|, its claw ^^ ; middle toe 

 1^5, its claw 1^. 



A young male, shot by Dr Townsend, on the Rocky Mountains, 

 on the 12th of July 1834, has all the upper parts dull yellowish-grey, 

 streaked with dusky ; the wings and tail dusky brown, the quills edged 

 with reddish-brown, the two bands on the coverts light reddish-brown ; 

 the lower parts whitish, streaked with dusky, the throat white, with a 

 band of dusky spots on each side from the lower mandible. 



a 



