BIEDS FKINGILLIDAE — CARPODACUS. 
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CARPODACUS, Kaup. 
Carpodacus, Kacp, "Entw. Europ. Thierw. 1829." Type Loxia erythrina, Pall. 
Erythrospiza, Bonaparte, Saggio di una dist. met. 1831. 
Haemorrhous, Swainson, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 295. Type Fringilla purpurea, Gmelin. 
Ch. — Bill short, stout, vaulted ; the culmen decurved towards the end ; the commissure nearly straight to the slightly decurved 
end. A slight development of bristly feathers along the sides of the bill, concealing the nostrils. Tarsus shorter than the 
middle toe ; lateral claws reaching to the base of the middle one. Claw of hind toe much curved, smaller than the middle 
one, and rather less than the digital portion. Wings long and pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail, which is considerably 
shorter than the wing, and moderately forked. Colors red, or red and brown. 
The genus Carpodacus, including the American purple finches, is composed of species, the 
males of which are more or less red in full plumage, while the females are brown. They are 
spread over North America, and species also occur in considerable numbers in northern Europe 
and Asia. 
In addition to the generic names mentioned above, there have been proposed for the group 
Erythrina, Brebm. 1828, pre-occupied in Botany, Erythrothorax, Brehm, 1831, and Pyrrliulinota, 
Hodgson, 1844. Should it become necessary to subdivide the genus, there will be no difficulty 
in finding names already established for the different sections. 
The following diagnoses may serve to distinguish the North American species of Carpodacus. 
A. Tail and wing feathers edged with reddish. 
Quite uniformly crimson on the head, neck, breast, and upper parts ; darker across the 
back. Wing coverts and quills margined with reddish. Belly white, faintly streaked 
with black. First quill longer than fourth C. purpureus. 
Similar to last. Purple of head and rump darker. A light purple supraorbital line. 
First quill shorter than fourth C. calif ornicus. 
Bill very long. Crown continuously crimson ; chin, throat, upper part of breast, and rump, 
rose red. Back grayish brown, streaked conspicuously with dark brown. Belly white, 
scarcely streaked C. cassinii. 
B. Tail and icing feathers edged ivith grayish ivhite. 
Bill short, very convex. Forehead, superciliary stripe, chin, throat, breast, and rump 
crimson. Back brown, not streaked. Wiugs brown. Belly white, strongly streaked; 
outlines of red not very sharply defined C. frontalis. 
Bill very convex. Forehead, superciliary stripe, chin and throat, with rump, all 
uniform bright crimson. Back dull brown, not streaked. Breast and belly white, 
much streaked. All the colors very sharply defined C. haemorrhous. 
