398 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



coverts ; quills and tail-feathers narrowly edged with pale sulphur-yel- 

 low ; wing 3.00, tail 2.50, tarsus .50, middle toe .30. Sab. Waltham, 

 Massachusetts (one specimen, obtained November 1, 1870). 



— . A. brewsterii Eidgw. Brewster's Linnet. 1 



Genus SPINUS Koch. (Page 383, pi. CVIL, figs. 3, 4.) 



Species. 



a 1 . Inner webs of tail-feathers, except two middle pairs, with a white spot or 

 patch. 

 b 1 . No yellow on wings (except sometimes on lesser coverts). 



c 1 . Back yellow or brownish ; inner web of tail-feathers dusky, becoming 

 white or whitish terminally. Adult male in summer : Pure lemon- 

 yellow, the forehead, crown, lores, wings, and tail black ; tail- 

 coverts, middle (sometimes lesser) wing-coverts, tips of greater 

 wing-coverts, and part of margins of quills and secondaries white. 

 Adult female in summer: Above olive-brownish or grayish, sometimes 

 tinged with olive-greenish, the wings and tail blackish dusky, 

 marked as in the male ; upper tail-coverts pale grayish or grayish 

 white; lower parts dull grayish white, more or less tinged with 

 yellow, especially anteriorly and laterally (sometimes entirely soiled 

 yellow, except under tail-coverts). Adult male in winter : Similar to 

 adult female, but wings and tail deeper black, with whitish mark- 

 ings broader and more distinct. Adult female in winter: Similar 

 to summer plumage, but more tinged with brownish, the lighter 

 wing- and tail-markings broader and tinged more or less with 

 buffy brownish. Young : somewhat like winter adults, but much 

 browner, all the wing-markings being light cinnamon, the plumage 

 generally suffused with this color. Length about 4.45-5.40,- wing 

 2.60-2.90, tail 1.80-2.10. West a very neat, cup-shaped structure 

 composed of compactly woven plant-fibres, etc., lined with plant- 

 down and other soft materials, placed in tall bushes or low trees. 

 Eggs 3-5, .66 X -47, plain pale bluish or bluish white. Sab. Whole 

 of temperate North America ; resident. 



529. S. tristis (Linn.). American Goldfinch. 

 c 2 . Back olive-green or glossy black, or with a mixture of these colors ; 

 inner webs of tail-feathers white, tipped with black (entirely black 

 in 8. psaltria columbiana; 2 length about 4.00-1.50, wing 2.40-2.55, 

 tail 1.70-1.90. {Adult male : Upper half of head, wings, and tail 

 deep black ; rest of upper parts varying from uniform olive- 

 green to uniform glossy black ; base of quills with a more or less 



1 No. 17, " Hypothetical List" of A. 0. TJ. Check List (p. 354). 



2 Ghrysomitris columbiana Lafe., Rev. Zool. 1843, 292. Hob. Costa Kica to Colombia and Venezuela. 



