
206 CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. 
the feathers, which are the only parts of a crimson colour, 
being gradually worn off, the bird as gradually loses its 
brilliancy, and in the autumnal and winter plumage exhibits 
the humble appearance of the female, 
The female is altogether destitute of the brillant colour, 
being dusky brown above, the feathers margined on each side 
with dull whitish ; the whole inferior surface is whitish, each 
feather having a brown longitudinal line in the middle, obso- 
lete on the vent, which is almost pure white. 
A change similar to that above mentioned-takes place in 
the purple finch, whose habits also much resemble those of 
the crimson-necked bullfinch; but the form of its bill is 
certainly that of a finch, and will always distinguish it from 
the species we are describing, the bill of which is unequivocally 
of the bullfinch form. The different tints of red adorning 
these birds will also at once strike the eye of the least expert 
in discriminating species ; in the present bird the tint is vivid 
crimson, whilst in the purple finch it is rosaceous. In addi- 
tion to these characters, the latter is a somewhat larger bird, 
with a pure white belly, inferior tail-coverts, and a deeply 
emarginated tail; whilst the former has a nearly even tail, 
and its belly and inferior tail-coverts are striped with dusky. 
Some persons, without doubt, may think it highly improper 
to separate generically two birds so closely allied as the pre- 
sent species and the purple finch, which may be mistaken for 
the same species ; but we may remark, that they stand at the 
extreme limit of their respective genera, and form the links 
of union between Pyrrhula and Fringilla. It is true that the 
intimate alliance of these two groups would seem to justify 
Illiger, Meyer, and others in uniting them under the same 
genus; but as #7ingilla is so vast in the number of its species, 
and Pyrrhula has a few distinctive characters, we choose to 
follow Temminck, Vieillot, and other naturalists, by arranging 
them generically separate. The closeness of affinity between 
these two birds, when thus properly disposed, affords no good 
reason for the unity of their genera; for, if we proceed to the 

