

11 

 LOXIA PYRRHULA. 



SysL Nat. 300. 



THE BULLFINCH, OR NOPE, 



PLATE XI. 



i. he bill is very thick, short, hooked, and black. The 

 eyes are brown and small. The head is of a silky black, 

 with a gloss of purple, which colour reaches down to 

 the nape of the neck. The back is of a bluish ash colour. 

 The rump a pure white. The covert feathers of the tail, 

 as well as the tail itself, are black, with a purple gloss. 



The first quill feathers of the wings are of a dusky 

 black ; the second quills, a bright glossy black purple, 

 the innermost excepted, which is red on the exterior 

 side of the shaft. The greater coverts are black, deeply 

 pointed with a pale ash colour. The lesser coverts the 

 same colour as the back. The upper part of the throat, 

 and the lower jaws, are surrounded with a list of black, 

 which unites with the black of the forehead at the eyes. 

 The cheeks, breast, and upper part of the belly, are of a 

 soft reddish crimson. The lower part of the belly, and 

 covert feathers under the tail, are white. The tail con- 

 sists of twelve feathers of a glossy purple black. 



The Bullfinch is not valued for his own song, but 

 for his beautiful plumage, his great docility and aptness 

 to take the song of other birds, to whistle after the pipe, 

 or even to speak. Their food is insects and the buds 

 of fruit-trees, particularly the apple, pear, and peach. 

 Therefore they are very destructive to the fruit, when 

 permitted to haunt fruit-gardens and orchards. I 

 have figured the cock on a branch of the * wild-apple, 

 or crab-tree. 



* Pyrus malus. 



