268 



NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



typically shorter, or not much longer than the hind toe, which is equal to the middle toe : 

 anterior toes very short, the lateral equal. Claws slender, acute, fully curved, the hinder one 

 much developed, particularly in old birds. The feet, in fact, are as much Scansorial as those 

 of the Meliphagidcc, both groups being Scansorial types of their respective circles.* — Sw. 









Dimensions. 















Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



Length, total . . 



. 5 



6 



Length of bill from rictus 



. 



5* 



Length of middle nail 



. 



3§ 



,, of tail 



, 2 



6 



,, of tarsus . . 







7 



„ of hind toe . 



. 



H 



„ of folded wing 



. 3 







,, of middle toe . 



. 



4 



,, of its nail 



. 



H 



„ of bill above 







4-1 















[81.] 1. Carduelis Americana. (Edwards.) American Goldfinch. 



Sub-family, Coccothraustinse, Swains. Genus, Carduelis, Auctou. 



The American Goldfinch {Carduelis Americana). Edwards, pi. 274.-f- 



Golden Finch. Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 371, No. 242. 



New York Siskin. Idem, p. 372, No. 243. (Male changing his plumage, and the male in his 



winter dress taken for the female.) 

 Fringilla tristis (Yellotv-bird or Goldfinch). Wilson, i., p. 20, pi. 1, f. 2. Adult male. 



Bonap. Syn., p. Ill, No. 181. Orn., i., p. 57, pi. 8, f. 4. Female. 



This very gay Goldfinch is one of the tardiest summer visitors of the fur- 

 countries ; and it retires southwards in September, after a stay of less than 

 three months. Wilson says it frequently assembles in great numbers on the 

 same tree to bask and dress in the sun, singing in concert for half an hour 

 together, much like the English Goldfinch ; which it also resembles in 

 becoming very familiar in captivity. Its eggs are very obtuse at one end and 

 acute at the other. They are white, surrounded at the thick end with a few spots 

 of yellowish-brown and a greater number of very subdued lavender-purple. — R. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a male, in full breeding plumage, killed 29th June, 1827- 



Colour. — General colour of the upper and under plumage of the body bright gamboge- 

 yellow, the crown forehead, wings and tail being deep black : rump and tail covers above 

 and below white. Wing covers dull olive-yellow, the last range black and tipped with white j 

 greater covers the same. The lesser quill feathers are all edged and tipped more or less with 



* As the true generic distinctions of Linaria have not been rightly understood or, indeed, explained, they are here 

 given. — Sw. 



f We see no reason why Linnaeus should have changed the prior name of Americana, given to this species by its 

 first describer, for one so peculiarly inappropriate as that of tristis. — Sw. 



