THE DESERT BULLFINCH 
OR 
TRUMPETER FINCH 
Erythrospiza githaginea 
General Plumage—Sandy-grey, darker on wings, the larger 
feathers of which are edged with bright pink; rump and 
upper tail-coverts bright pink, under-parts all creamy pink 
with the ends of the feathers carmine, beak large and bright 
red, legs pinkish flesh-colour, eyes brown. Total length, 5 
inches. 
THE above description, as are all these descriptions, 
is of the adult male bird in full plumage, but 
the reader must remember that this full, brilliant 
plumage is generally worn only during the spring 
months, and that if any bird is observed in 
November or December, it naturally will not be 
then wearing its wedding - garment. This is 
especially true of the present species; in the 
winter months it is a quiet-coloured little bird, 
hardly to be noticed as it hops about on the cleared 
ground, to which its colour is very similar, its red 
beak alone showing brightly; and it is only in 
January that it begins to show any alteration, and 
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