BtlCANETES OBSOLETUS. 



(DESERT-FINCH.) 



Fringilla obsolete/,, Licht. in Eversm. Reis. Buchara, p. 132 (1823). 

 Carjpodacus obsoleta (Licht.), Gray, Gen. of B. ii. p. 384 (1844). 

 Erythrospiza obsoleta (Licht.), Bp. & Schl. Monogr. Lox. p. 28 (1850). 

 Bueanetes obsoletus (Licht.), Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. i. p. 164, footnote (1850). 

 Erytrospiza obsoleta (Licht.), De Fil. Archiv. Zool. Genova, ii. p. 384 (1863). 

 Carpodacus [Erythrospiza) obsoletus (Licht.), Gray, Hand-1. of B. ii. p. 102 (1870). 

 Bhodospiza obsoleta (Licht.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xii. p. 282 (1888). 



Timochuk, Turki. 



Figures notabiles. 



Bonap. & Schlegel, Monogr. Lox. pi. xxxii. ; Blanford, E. Persia, ii. pi. xvii. ; Gould, B. of 

 Asia, v. pi. xxix. 



$ ad. supril pallide arenaceo-fuscus, uropygio pallidiore et supracaudalibus fulvido tinctis : remigibus nigri- 

 cantibus conspicue albo marginatis : secundariis ad basin et tectricibus alarum conspicue rosaceo-rubro 

 marginatis : rectricibus nigrieantibus, mediis conspicue et reliquis angustiore albo marginatis : loris et 

 linea ad basin rostri nigris : corpore subtus dorso concolore sed pallidiore, abdomine medio fere albo : 

 rostro nigro : pedibus fusco-carneis : iride fusca. 



? ad. mari similis, sed pallidior, alis minus rosaceo tinctis : rostro nigro-fusco. 



Adult Male (Tschinar, March 4th). Upper parts uniform pale sandy brown; rump rather paler, and the 

 upper tail-coverts darker and tinged with rufous ; quills black, all the feathers broadly margined with 

 white, the secondaries and wing-coverts broadly margined with bright rose ; tail-feathers black, the 

 middle ones broadly and the outer ones more narrowly margined with white ; lores and a narrow space 

 at the base of the bill, together with a narrow frontal band, black ; underparts paler than the upper 

 parts, the middle of the abdomen nearly white : bill black ; legs fleshy brown ; iris brown. Total length 

 about 5"5 inches, culmen 0"5, wing 3 - 5, tail 2"45, tarsus 07. 



The female in spring plumage differs from the male merely in being paler in general tone of colour, and 

 more faintly marked with rose-colour on the wings, the bill being dark blackish horn, nearly as black 

 as in the male. The autumnal plumage differs but little from that above described, being a trifle greyer 

 in tone of colour, the white margins to the wing and tail-feathers are tinged with buff, and the bill is 

 yellowish instead of being blackish. According to Dr. Radde, the old female has the bill dark horn, 

 nearly as black as in the male, and never so light in colour as is shown in Mr. Blanford's plate. 



The range of this beautiful Finch extends from Syria and Transcaspia, Persia, Afghanistan, and 

 Turkestan to the northern bend of the Hoang-ho River in Chinese Mongolia, but it does not 

 appear to range into China proper. 



In Transcaspia it is, according to Zarudny (Bull. Soc. Mosc. iii. p. 797), " a common species 



