FRINGILLID.E. 



269 



white. Tail black ; each feather with a long, white, oval spot on the inner web near the tip. 

 Bill and legs ochraceous. 



Form, typical. Bill conical, a little compressed ; ridge of the upper mandible more 

 inclined to curve than that of the lower; cutting margin of the upper mandible angulated at 

 the base, and sinuated. Nostrils concealed by incumbent bristles. Wimjs long, pointed ; 

 first and fourth equal, second and third rather longer. Tail short, deeply forked. Tarsi 

 rather short, but longer than the hind toe, which is also much shorter than the middle toe ; 

 lateral toes nearly equal. Claws slender, acute, well curved ; the hinder claw not much 

 longer than the middle one*. 



The female, according to the Prince of Musignano, is brownish-olive above and greenish- 

 yellow beneath ; the crown without any black ; but the wings and tail, although duller, are 

 like those of the male. The young birds of the first year of course resemble the female. 

 — Sw. 









Dimensions. 















Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



Length, total 



. 5 







Length of bill from rictus 



. 



5 



Length of middle nail 



. (> 



9i 



„ of tail 



1 



10 



„ of tarsus . . 







6 



,, of hind toe . 







93 



-4 



„ of folded wing 



, 2 



6 



,, of middle toe . 



. 



5 



,, of its nail 



. 



9i( 



-A 



„ of bill above 







AS. 















[82.] 1. Coccothratjstes vespertina. (Cooper.) Evening Grosbeak. 



Sub-family, Coccothraustinas, Swains. Genus, Coccothraustes, Bkiss. Sub-genus, ? 



Fringilla (Coccothraustes) vespertina. Cooper, Ann. Lye. New York, i., p. 220. 



Bonap. Syn., No. 188. Ornithol., ii., p. 75, pi. 15, f. 1. 

 Seesebasquit-pethaysish {Sugar-bird). Cb.ee Indians. 



This gay and very remarkable bird, hitherto but little known to naturalists, 

 is a common inhabitant of the maple groves on the Saskatchewan plains : whence 

 its native appellation of " Sugar-bird." As it arrives with the last of the 

 summer visitors, we quitted that district, in the beginning of June, without having 

 an opportunity of seeing it; but, subsequently, Mr. Prudens, the Chief Trader at 

 Carlton House, kindly sent us specimens. It frequents the borders of Lake 

 Superior also, and the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains, in lat. 56° ; 

 but its habits are unknown. — R. 



* We incline at present to the belief that Carduelis is the most aberrant group ; that is, the Tenuirostral type of 

 thia sub-family : yet its remarkably close connexion to Linaria is such as to make us doubt whether two such genera, 

 if strictly natural, would not exhibit greater variation. The American genus Tiaris, Sw., undoubtedly leads to the 

 Tanagers ; but whether, between Timis and Linaria, there is not a more strongly marked form than Carduelis, may 

 well be questioned. It is curious, however, to remark how much in colour the Goldfinches resemble the Yellow and 

 Black Orioles (Oriolince), which constitute in the same manner the Tenuirostral sub-family of the Merulid^e. — Sw. 



