340 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — FASSHliES — OSCINES. 



indeed ; but iu suiiie iif the smaller- billed funns, aud es])ecially those with slender bill, it is 

 hardly perceptible. On the whole, hoM'cvcr, it is a good character, aud at any rate it is the 

 miist reliable external feature that can be found. It separates our friugiUiue birds pretty 

 trenchantly fnau other 9-priniaried Osciues except Icteridce, and most of these may be dis- 

 tinguished by the cliaracters given beyoud. 



Taking their characters all together, Friiigillidcc may be defined as 9-prinuiried conirostral 

 laminiplantar (jscine Passeres with axis of bill at an augle with that of skull, and nostrils 

 nearer calmen than cutting edge of bill. 



When we come, however, to consider this great gr<,iu]i of conirostral Osciues iu its entirety, 

 as compared with bordering families like the Old World Ploceidm, or the Icterida;, and espe- 

 cially the Tanagridm, of the New, the difficulty if not the impossibility of framing a perfect 

 diagnosis becomes apparent, and I am not aware that any attempts at rigid detinition have 

 pr(iven successful. Ornithologists are nearly agreed what birds to call fringilliue, without being 

 so well prepared to say what " fringilliue" means. The subdivisions of the tiimily, as might 

 be expected, are still couveutional, aud varying with every leading writer. Our species might 

 be thrown iutn several groups, but the distinctions would be more or less arbitrary and not 

 readily perceived. It is therefore best to waive the question, and simply collocate th(! genera in 

 orderly sequence. 



The FringiUidie are popularly known by several difl'ereut names. Here belong all the 

 sparrotvs, with the allied birds called finches, buntings, linnets, grosbeaks and crossbills. In 

 the following pages I describe 123 species and subspecies, mostly well determined, and ascer- 

 tained to occur within our limits, referring them to H7 genera, as the custom is, although I 

 thiulv this number (jf gcuera altogether ton large. Two of them, Pasaer do)ne><ticus and P. iiioii- 

 tanus, are imported and naturalized. Species occur tliroughout our country, in every situation, 

 and many of them are anmng our most abundant and familiar birds. They are all graniviirous 

 — seed-eaters, but many feed extensively on buds, fruits, and other soft vegetable substances, 

 as well as on insects. They are not so perfectly migratory as the exclusively insectivorous 

 birds, the nature of whose food requires prompt removal at the approach of cold weather ; but, 

 with some exceptions, they withdraw from their breeding places in the fall to spend the winter 

 fartlier south, and to return in the spring. With a few signal exiw^ptions they are not truly 

 gregarious birds, though they often associate in large companies, assembled in comuumity of 

 interest. The modes of nesting are too various to be here sunnnarized. Nearly all the finches 

 sing, with varying ability and effect ; some of them are among our most delightful vocalists. 

 As a rule, they are plainly clad — even meanly, in comparison with some of our sylvan 

 beauties ; but among them are birds of elegant and striking colors. Among the highly-colored 

 ones, the sexes are more or less unlike, and other changes, with age and season, are strongly 

 marked ; the reverse is the case with the rest. 



The unpractised student will have more trouble in this family than elsewhere iu identifying 

 his specimens. In the first place, the genera aud species arc very numerous, and so variously 

 interrelated that no satisfactory subfamilies have been established ; they are therefore not 

 parcelled out in sets. Secondly, all the genera cannot be discriniiuated in a line of type. To 

 meet the diifioulty, I have caused the family to be profusely illustrated with cuts of more than 

 average excellence, aud attempted a tabular analysis of the genera, which, though necessarily 

 defective, will doubtless help to some extent. Speaking roundly, there are three lots of 

 genera : (a) Loxiine, mostly boreal birds, sexed unlike, ^ often red, 9 dull, no blue, colors 

 massed or streaky, bill usually ruffed at base, wings pointed, tail forked, feet weak ; (?)) 

 SpizelUne, everywhere, mostly small streaked and spotted species, sexed alike, nniy be 

 yellowed but are never red or blue, wings, tail, and feet various; (c) Spizine, mostly south- 

 erly, sexed unlike, ^ often red or blue, bill unruffed, wings, tail, and feet various; — but 

 nothing will serve to distinguish these groups uncxceptionally. 



