160 THE WHITE-CROWNED FINCH. 



Breeds from Newfoundland and Labrador northward. Abundant. Mi- 

 gratory, Passes southward in autumn beyond the Texas. 



White-crowned Bunting, Emberiza leucophrys, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 49. 



Fringilla leucophrys, Bonap. Syn. p. 479. 



Fringilla (Zonotrichia) leucophrys, White-crowned Finch, Swains, and Rich., F. 



Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 255. 

 White-crowned Bunting, or Finch, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 479. 

 White-crowned Sparrow, Fringilla leucophrys, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 88; vol. v. 



p. 515. 



Adult Male. 



Bill very short, robust, conical, acute; upper mandible scarcely broader 

 than the lower, both almost straight in their outline, rounded on the sides, 

 with the edges inflected and sharp; the gap-line very slightly deflected at the 

 base, and not extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils basal, roundish, 

 partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body 

 full. Legs of moderate length, rather strong; tarsus longer than the middle 

 toe, covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes scutellate above, 

 free, the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, arched, compressed, acute, 

 that of the hind toe rather large. 



Plumage soft and rather blended above, loose beneath. Wings short and 

 curved, rounded, the third quill longest, the second and fourth almost as 

 long. Tail rather long, nearly even, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bill reddish-orange, tipped with brown. Iris reddish-brown. Feet pale 

 brown. The head is marked with three stripes of white, and four of deep 

 black. Back and wing-coverts dark reddish-brown, with pale grey margins, 

 the posterior part of the back and upper tail-coverts lighter brown. Quills 

 and tail dark brown, margined with pale; the tip of the smaller coverts 

 white, as are those of some of the primary coverts, which, with the 

 secondary quills, have chestnut-brown edges. Throat and belly white; sides 

 of the neck and the breast dull purplish-grey; the flanks and under tail- 

 coverts pale brownish-grey. 



Length 7^ inches; extent of wings 10^; bill along the ridge ~|, along the 

 edge -j- 7 ,-; tarsus -J°. 



Adult Female. 



In its summer dress, the female resembles the male at that season; but in 

 winter the white lines on the head are less pure, the dark lines are reddish- 

 brown, but the tints of the other parts are nearly similar, these circumstances 

 being the same in the male. 



Length 1\ inches. 



The lower mandible is broader than the upper, and deeply concave; the 



