146 



riilNGILLIDiE, FINCHES, ETC. GEN. 75, 76. 



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75. Genus CHONDESTES Swainson. 



Larlc Finch. Head enviously variegated witli chestnut, lilack and wliite ; 



crown cliestuut l)lackcning on forehead, divided by a median stripe, and 



l)onuded hy superciliary stripes, of white; a black line through e3'e, and 



another l)elow eye, enclosing a white streak under the eye and the chestnut 



auriculars ; next, a shai'p black maxilhiry stripe 

 not C]uite reaching the bill, cutting otf a white 

 stripe from the white chin and throat. A black 

 blotch on middle of lireast. Under parts white, 

 faintly shaded with grayish-brown : upper parts 

 grayish-brown, the middle of the back with tine 

 black streaks. Tail very long, its central feathers 

 lil^e the back, the rest jet-black, broadly tipped 

 with pure white in diminishing amount from the 

 lateral pair inward, and the outer web of the 

 outer pair entirely white ; 6J-7 ; wing 3^, pointed; tail 3, rounded. A 

 beautiful species, abundant from the eastern edge of the prairies to the 

 Pacilic ; the young ditfer somewhat, particularlj' about the head, but the bird 

 is mimistakable in any plumage ; the coloration of the tail alone is diagnostic. 

 A sweet songster; nest on the ground, of dried grass; eggs 4-5, white, 

 with straggling zigzag dark lines, as in many Icteiidce. Aud., iii, 63, pi. 

 158; NuTT.,i,480; Bd.,456; Coop., 193 geammaca. 



Fig. 00. LarkFinoh. 



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76. Genus PASSER Aiactorum. 



English Sj)arrow. Bill shaped much as in tlie purple finch, with a slight 

 basal rutf; tarsus as long as the middle toe ; wings pointed ; tail forked a 

 little, I as long as the wing, g , above, reddish-brown, the back black-streaked, 

 the crown and under parts l)rownish-ash, the chin and throat black ; $ lack- 

 ing the latter marks. A siDccies lately imported from Europe, now 

 thoroughly naturalized, and already abundant in many towns and cities of 

 the Eastern and Middle States, though not yet generally dispersed over the 

 country. It has also been recentl}' introduced into Salt Lake City, where it 

 seems to thrive equally well. It has proved highly bcheticial by destroying 

 canker-worms, the pest of our shade trees, and our dusty streets arc enlivened 

 with its presence; but if it continues to multiply at the present rate, it must 

 soon overflow municipal limits, and then the results of the contact of this 

 hardy foreigner with our native birds may cause us to regret its introduction, 

 unless it finds natural enemies to cheek its increase. Lawii., Ann. Lj^c. Nat. 

 Hist. N. Y. viii, 1866, 287; Proc. Bost. Soc. 1867, 157; 1868, 381); 

 CouES, Proc. Essex Inst. 1868, 283 ; Allen, Am. Nat. iii, 635 ; Elliot, 



pi- 12 DOMESTICUS. 



Obs. Two other European finches, the Goldfinch, CardiieUs elegaiis, and tlie 

 Serin finch, Seriiius mcridionuUti, are reported iVoni Massachusetts, but believed 

 to iiave been escaped cage-bijds. Allicn, Ain. Nat. iii, Ci.'ir). 



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