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 ARKANSAW SISKIN. 



FrINGILLA FSALTRIA, Say. 

 PLATE CCCC. Male. 



This pretty little species first added to our Fauna by Thomas Say, 

 who procured it in the course of Colonel Long's expedition to the 

 Rocky Mountains, visits the lower parts of Louisiana at irregular pe- 

 riods, although always during winter. I have procured individuals a 

 few miles from Bayou Sara. They fly loosely together, alight after per- 

 forming some evolutions, made as if to ascertain the absence of danger, 

 and, as soon as they are on the trees or on the ground, proceed to search 

 for food. The only notes I heard them utter, somewhat resembled 

 those of Fringilla tristis, the American Goldfinch. They are impatient 

 birds, and seldom remain long in the same spot, but change to and fro 

 in the same locality. No individuals of this species were observed by 

 NuTTALL or TowNSEND in the course of their journey to and across the 

 Rocky Mountains. My figure is that of an old male drawn at Bayou 

 Sara. 



Arkansaw Siskin, Fringilla psalteia, Say, in Long's Expedition, vol. ii. p. 40. 



— Ch. Bona/parte, Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 54, pi. 6, fig. 3. 

 Fringilla psaltria, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. ill. 

 Arkansas Siskin, NuttaU, Manual, voL ii. p. 610. 



Adult Male. Plate CCCC. Fig. 1. 



Bill short, conical, stout, compressed toward the end, the tip acute ; 

 upper mandible with the dorsal line somewhat convex, the ridge indis- 

 tinct, the sides rounded, the edges sharp, declinate at the base, the tip 

 narrow ; lower mandible with the angle very short and semicircular, the 

 dorsal line straight, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip acute. 

 Nostrils basal, round, concealed by the feathers. 



Head rather large, broadly ovate ; neck short ; body moderate. 

 Feet of moderate size ; tarsus rather short, compressed, with seven an- 

 terior scutella, and two plates behind meeting so as to form a very sharp 

 edge ; toes rather large, the lateral equal, the first stouter ; claws ra- 



