CRIMSON-NECKED FINCH. 231 



Adult Male. Plate CCCCXXIV. Fig. 2. 



Bill shortish, robust, bulging, conical, pointed; upper mandible 

 with the dorsal outline a little convex, the back and sides rounded, the 

 edges direct, overlapping, slightly arched, with a faint sinus, and a little 

 deflected at the base ; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, 

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

 convex, the edges sharp and inflected. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, 

 partially concealed by the feathers. 



Head rather large, broadly ovate ; neck short ; body full. Feet of 

 moderate size ; tarsus slender, compressed, covered anteriorly with 

 seven large scutella, of which the upper are rather indistinct, laterally 

 with two long plates meeting so as to form a very sharp edge ; toes 

 scutellate above, free, the lateral nearly equal. Claws slender, arched, 

 much compressed, acute. 



Plumage soft and blended, the wing-coverts compact. Wings of 

 moderate length, the third primary longest, the fourth scarcely shorter, 

 the second less than one-twelfth shorter than the third, and exceeding 

 the first by one-twelfth. Tail long, broad, emarginate and divaricate, 

 the middle feathers only a twelfth and a half shorter than the longest, 

 which is the third from the lateral, the latter being of the same length 

 as the middle. 



Bill brown above, paler beneath. Iris brown. Feet and claws 

 light brown. Forehead and a band over the eye, proceeding dovni the 

 neck, crimson ; throat, fore part of breast and sides, with the rump, rich 

 carmine, the latter paler. The upper parts greyish-brown, the head, 

 hind neck, and fore part of the back slightly tinged with red ; quills, co- 

 verts, and tail-feathers dusky and edged with pale brownish-grey, the 

 first row of small coverts rather conspicuously tipped with a lighter 

 tint of the same. Short bristly feathers at the base of the bill greyish- 

 yellow ; loral space and ear-coverts, light grey ; the hind part of the 

 breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts yellowish-white, streaked with 

 dusky. 



Length to end of tail 6^ inches ; bill along the ridge -^|, along the 

 edge of lower mandible || ; wing from flexure 3| ; tail 3^ ; tarsus /j ; 

 hind toe ^|, its claw |^ ; middle toe ||, its claw j%. 



As stated above, this species is very closely allied to Fringilla pur- 

 purea^ of which however the bill is less bulging, the tail shorter and 



