49 



FAMILY XV. FRINGILLIN^. FINCHES. 



Bill short, stout, conical, acute; upper mandible generally with its dorsal 

 line more or less convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected or direct, the 

 tip acute; lower mandible with the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, 

 the edges involute. Gap-line ascending for more than a fourth of its length, 

 then direct. Nostrils basal, roundish, partly concealed by the feathers. 

 Head of moderate size, or rather large, ovate or roundish; neck short; body 

 compact; tarsus generally shorter than the middle toe with its claw, com- 

 pressed, with seven or eight anterior scutella; hind toe stout; outer toe 

 adherent at the base, lateral about equal. Claws long or moderate, com- 

 pressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage soft and blended, but firm. 

 Wings various, acute, or rounded. Tail of twelve feathers. Roof of upper 

 mandible concave, with three prominent lines, of which the middle is some- 

 times elevated into an oblong hard prominence. Tongue much compressed, 

 pointed; oesophagus rather wide, with a dilatation or crop on the right side; 

 stomach roundish or oblong, muscular, with the epithelium thin, dense, and 

 longitudinally rugous; intestine short, rather wide; coeca very small, cylin- 

 drical. Trachea simple, with four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. The 

 Fringillinse pass into the Icterinse on the one hand, and the Alaudinse on the 

 other. The Buntings scarcely differ from the Finches in any other character 

 than the knob on the palate, which is common to them with the Icterinse. 



Genus I.— PLECTROPHANES, Meyer. LARK-BUNTING. 



Bill very short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed; upper mandible 

 considerably narrower than the lower, its dorsal outline very slightly convex, 

 the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the marginal outline slightly angulate; 

 lower mandible with the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the edges 

 involute. Nostrils basal, roundish, partly concealed by the feathers. Head 

 of moderate size, ovate; neck short; body compact, tarsus shorter than the 

 middle toe with its claw, compressed, with seven anterior scutella; hind toe 

 stout; claws long, rather stout, little arched, acute, that of the hind toe much 

 elongated. Plumage soft and blended. Wings long, pointed; the first quill 

 longest. Tail rather long, emarginate. 



