GREY-CROWNED LINNET. S33 



aries rounded. Tail of moderate length, emarginate, the middle-fea- 

 thers a quarter of an inch shorter than the longest. 



Bill black ; tarsi and claws dusky brown. The general colour of 

 the plumage is dark umber-brown ; the feathers margining the bill 

 whitish ; the upper part of the head ash-grey, spotted with black an- 

 teriorly ; the first row of smaller wing-coverts, the feathers of the 

 rump and the upper tail-coverts are broadly edged and tipped with 

 rose-red ; as are the feathers of the sides and the lower tail-coverts, of 

 which however the tint is paler. The quills, larger coverts, and tail- 

 feathers, are dusky brown ; the primary and secondary coverts edged 

 with dull red, the quills and tail-feathers with brownish-white. 



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

 edge of lower mandible || ; wing from flexure 4 ; tail 2^^ ; tarsus ^| 5 

 hind toe ^"V, its claw x% ; middle toe i%, its claw ||. 



COW-PEN BIRD. 



Icterus pecoris, Bonap, 



PLATE CCCCXXIV. Young. 



The bird from which I made the present figure was sent to me by 

 my friend Thomas Nuttall, Esq., through Dr Trudead. It is the 

 same as that described by the former gentleman under the name of 

 " Ambiguous Sparrow, Fringilla amhigua^'' at p. 485 of his Manual of 

 the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada. On inspecting it, 

 however, I at once felt convinced that it was nothing else than a young 

 Cow-pen Bird, scarcely fledged, it having been found " in the early part 

 of the summer of 1830." With the view, therefore, of preventing further 

 mistakes I have thought it well to figure it. 



In my former account of this most interesting bird (Vol. i. p. 493), 

 I forgot to mention that it is in the habit of retiring to rest and spend 

 the night on the reeds bordering ponds in unfrequented places, as are 

 the rest of our " Blackbirds." One of their roosting-places is alluded 

 to by my young friend Dr Thomas M. Brewer, of Boston, in a letter, 



