54 BIHDS OF TIEEEA DEL FUEGO 



PHRYGILUS MELANODERUS (Quoy et Gaimaid) 



Emberiza melanodera, Quoy et Qaimard, Voy. " JJranie" Zool. 1, 



p. 109, 1824. 

 Chlorospiza melanodera, Gould and Darwin, Voy. " Beagle" Birds, 



p. 95, pi. xxxii, 1841. 

 PhrygiluS melanoderus, Abbott, ibis, p. 153, 1861; Sharpe, Oat. 



Birds Brit. Mus., xii, p. 786, 1888. 



Habitat — Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego ; the Falkland Islands. 



(^ ?, Useless Bay Settlement, lOth Sept.; ?, Sara Settlement, llth 

 Oct., 1904. 



Iris — brown, so narrow scarcely distinguisiiable ; bill — horn colour ; 

 legs — black. 



This Finch is a difficult bird to determine in its varying 

 phases of plumage, all the more so as its very near ally P. xantho- 

 grammus so closely resembles it as to be scarcely distinguishable 

 except by its greater size. It may help matters if I give a full 

 description of my pair of Tierra del Fuego birds in perfect 

 condition, illustrated by a plate. 



c?, General colour above, ashy grey; feathers on back and 

 rump barred with green ; lesser wing coverts, bright olive yellow, 

 slightly tipped with grey ; median coverts canary yellow, tipped 

 with grey ; primary quills white, outer web canary yellow, 

 shading into dusky brown at tips, more especially on inner 

 portion ; secondaries similarly coloured, but darker, with 

 whitish edges at the ends, tertials with black on the inner 

 web towards the tips ; alula and tips of primary coverts black ; 

 centre feathers of tail green, becoming grey at tips ; outer feathers 

 canary yellow, shading into white at tips, the feathers nearing 

 the centre having the tips of the inner web almost black ; lores 

 black, bordered by a white line, including the eye, the white line 

 on centre of throat somewhat yellow ; sides of breast and flanks 

 ashy grey ; breast canary yellow, shading into white on the vent 

 and under tail coverts, the latter yellow at the base; under wing 

 coverts and axillaries like the breast. Total length, 6.0 ; 

 culmen, O'o5 ; wing, 3*6 ; tarsus, 0'9 ; tail, 2'45 inches; 



? , General colour, brownish grey, feathers of crown and back 



