LAZULI FINCH. 101 



the Columbia river, is fastened between the stem and two branches of a 

 large fern, round which many of the fibres are woven. It is funnel-shaped, 

 six inches in length, three inches in breadth externally at the mouth, from 

 which it gradually tapers. Internally its diameter at the mouth is two 

 inches, and its depth three. It is composed of fibrous lichens, mosses, 

 decayed leaves and grasses, of coarse texture and rudely interwoven. It is 

 lined with finer fibres and a few horse-hairs. 



From the Arkansas to the Columbia river. Never seen near the Atlantic 

 coast. Plentiful. Migratory. 



Emberiza amcena, Say, Long's Exped. 



Lazuli Finch, Fringilla amcena, Bonap. Amer. Orn., vol. i. p. 61. 



Fringilla amcena, Bonap. Syn..p. 106. 



Lazuli Finch, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 478. 



Lazuli Finch, Fringilla amcena, Aud. Orn. Biog\, vol. v. p. 64, and p. 230. 



Adult Male in summer. 



Bill short, robust, conical, a little bulging, straight, acute; upper mandible 

 broader, its dorsal outline somewhat convex, the ridge narrow, the sides 

 sloping and a little convex, the edges sharp, with a slight notch close to the 

 narrow declinate tip; gap-line a little deflected at the base; nostrils basal, 

 roundish, partly concealed by the feathers; lower mandible with the angle 

 short and rounded, the dorsal line ascending and very slightly convex, the 

 sides rounded, the edges involute, the tip acute. 



Head of moderate size, broadly ovate; neck short; body rather full. Feet 

 of ordinary length; tarsus much compressed, covered anteriorly with seven 

 scutella, of which the upper are blended, posteriorly with two long plates, 

 meeting so as to form a very thin edge; toes free, of moderate size, the first 

 large, the lateral equal, the middle toe longer than the first. Claws slender, 

 compressed, well arched, acute. 



Plumage full, soft, blended. Wings of ordinary length, the second and 

 third quills longest, the first nearly one-twelfth of an inch shorter and about 

 equal to the fourth; outer secondaries slightly emarginate, inner not elon- 

 gated. Tail of moderate length, emarginate, of twelve obtuse feathers. 



Bill and feet brownish-black. The head and neck all round are of a 

 beautiful greenish-blue, as are the hind part of the back and rump; the loral 

 space black; the fore part of the back, the scapulars, the wings and tail are 

 brownish-black, all the feathers margined with blue; the wing crossed by a 

 conspicuous white band formed by the first row of small coverts, and an 

 obscure band of bluish-white formed by the tips of the secondary coverts. 

 On the fore part of the breast is a broad band of light brownish-red; the 



Vol. III. 17 



