98 cassell's book of birds. 



broader towards die middle of die tail, the feathers in the centre being merely edged with white. 

 The female is of an olive or greyish green. The Siberian Bullfinches inhabit the marshy, reed-covered 

 districts of Northern Asia. In the autumn they congregate in parties of from ten to thirty, and fly 

 about uttering a monotonous piping note. In Irkutsck these birds assemble in great numbers during 

 the month of September, and many are captured by bird-fanciers ; but they entirely lose their vivacity 

 when in a cage, and do not long survive. In Oron the Siberian Bullfinch is found in company with 

 the Bohemian Chatterer ; large flocks are also seen in the Bareja Mountains about the end of 

 September. The flight of this species is somewhat undulating, and produces a buzzing sound. 



We are far better acquainted with the next bird that we shall describe — a most splendid and 

 interesting member of the family of Bullfinches. It inhabits Africa, but frequently makes its way 

 into Central Europe. 



THE VINOUS GROSBEAK. 



The Vinous Grosbeak, or, as it is sometimes called, the Desert Trumpeter {Bucanetes 

 githagineus), is met with both in Egypt and Nubia, where we have killed many specimens ; but for 

 all this we cannot pretend to as intimate an acquaintance with it as Bolle, who has made it the subject 

 of one of his most animated descriptions. We much regret that our space does not admit of its 

 insertion at full length, and we must, dierefore, present it to our readers much curtailed, and inter- 

 mixed with such observations of our own as are likely to add force to his statements. " Far beyond 

 the fruitful coast of North-eastern Africa, and far beyond the Atlas Mountains, we find a new kingdom 

 lying in the desert occupied by few but strange inhabitants. All is not dead and silent in this dreary 

 waste, nor are its waves of sand for ever untouched except by the breath of the death-bearing simoom. 

 It has its wells, where the feet of the caravan have made their path, its little oases, sheltered by the 

 clustering palm, and its valleys rich in brooklets filled with water collected from the winter rains. 

 Within the heart of the Sahara, and not merely on its borders, we occasionally find deep glens planted 

 with the tamarind and mimosa, and the most unlikely places, at certain seasons of the year, produce 

 plants peculiar to the desert. Even in these dreary regions, where vegetation struggles with difficulty 

 through the sun-burnt soil, we need not seek in vain for animal life. This immense expanse, extending, 

 as it does, from the Euphrates to the Senegal, has been branded by nature as an unfruitful wilderness, 

 and all its living inhabitants are formed to harmonise with the desolate plains that they inhabit." We 

 will not follow Bolle through all his illustrations of the suitability of the creatures found in the desert 

 to the localities in which they are placed, but will proceed at once to his description of the Desert 

 Trumpeter. " The Desert Trumpeter, the ' Stone Bird ' of the Arabs, the ' Moros ' of the inhabitants 

 of the Canary Islands, is a lively and beautiful bullfinch, of about the size of our canary bird. Its body 

 is compact, and its scarlet beak, owing to its parrot-like shape, appears somewhat thick, but not suffi- 

 ciently so to interfere with the elegance of its form. The feet are remarkably delicate for a creature 

 that passes so much of its time upon the stony ground. The plumage is comparatively rich, the 

 bridal attire of the old male bird being a mixture of rose-red and satin-like white feathers, the former 

 colour increasing in extent and depth of hue as the bird becomes older ; it is darkest in the spring, 

 when the plumage is of a deep rich crimson. These colours, however, become much paler towards 

 the autumn, at which season the tints of the male closely resemble those of the female, whose coat is 

 of a dull yellowish red. Many varieties of shade are seen in this species, some males presenting the 

 appearance of having been dipped in blood, whilst others are of a greyish hue. The red colour is 

 not confined to the plumage, but spreads over the whole body, so that a Desert Trumpeter, when 

 plucked, might properly be termed a little Red-skin ! During the spring the top of the head and 

 neck are a pale ash-grey, with a brilliant gloss, the shoulders and neck being a brownish ash-grey, 



