The Goldfinch. 



79 



The forehead, cheeks, and upper part of the throat are deep 

 red ; a narrow band of black feathers surrounds the base or 

 root of the bill, and a stripe of black feathers runs from the 

 junction of the upper mandible to the back of the eye, 

 dividing the red. On the top of the head, or poll, is a 

 broad black velvety spot, round in form in front, and 

 penetrating a short way into the red which covers the 

 forehead ; it extends to the back of the head, where it is 

 intercepted by a band of black feathers, which covers the 

 back part of the skull on each side as far as the neck and 

 throat, then tapers to a point in front, being almost semi- 

 circular in form ; at the back it is square or straight. On 

 each cheek is a patch of creamy-white, placed between the 

 black line over the back of the head and the red face, and 

 this patch or band entirely encircles the throat ; on the 

 cheeks it is commingled with very pale chestnut-brown, which 

 becomes whiter as the bird gets older ; below this is a 

 broader band of pale warm brown, also semicircular in form. 



The sides of the neck, breast, and belly, extending to the 

 tail, are of pale reddish-brown colour ; the belly and vent 

 are dingy white, as also the under coverts of the tail, which 

 are slightly tinged with brown ; the under or flue feathers 

 are black ; a slight tinge of very pale yellow, almost imper- 

 ceptible to the unaided eye, may be found on each side of 

 the breast. The tail is black, and 2in. in length. Two, and 

 sometimes three, of the extreme outside feathers on each 

 side have a white spot, or bar, from -|in. to jin. in length ; 

 the remaining feathers have white tips. The pen or flight 

 feathers, eighteen in number, are black. 



In the centre of the wing is a beautiful yellow band, or 

 stripe, extending in almost parallel lines from side to side, 

 with the exception of the first feather, which is black ; this band 

 is about lin. in width, and is formed by each feather having a 

 deep bright yellow margin on the upper side of the quill, 

 and on the lower side a corresponding margin of a greyish- 

 white, so that, when the wing is closed, it has the appear- 

 ance of a double golden band ; all the pen feathers, with 

 the exception of the first five, have white tips. The rump 

 and tail coverts are mixed with white feathers. The back, 

 neck, and rump are of a dark slightly dusky brown colour ; 

 the legs are If in. in length, and brown in colour ; at the 



