FBINGILLIDjE : FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPABEOWS, ETC. 391 
Analysis of Species. 
rich blue, intense red and golden-green ; $ greenish and yellow. Southern ciris 292 
(f purplish-blue, dusky and reddish. $ brown. Southwestern versicolor 293 
(f lazuli-blue and white, the breast brown ; 9 brown and whitish. Western amoena 294 
indigo-blue; $ brown. Eastern cyanea 295 
292. P. ci'ris. (Gr. Kcipis, keiris, name of a bird into which Scylla, dau^^hter of Nisus, was trans- 
formed.) Painted Finch. Painted Bunting. Nonpareil. Pope. , adult : Crown and 
hind neck and sides of head and neck rich blue ; back and scapulars beautiful golden-green ; 
eyelids, rump, and entire under parts intense vermilion-red ; wings dusky, glossed wdth green 
and reddish tail dusky reddish. Bill dark horn -color ; feet dark brown. Size of C. amoena; 
wing 2.75 ; tail 2.25, a little emarginate. 9 : Above, plain yellowish-green, nearly uniform, this 
color glossing the dusky wings and tail; below, yellowish; bill brownish, pale below; thus 
quite different from the brown 9 9 of the following species. Young ^ at first like 9 5 
acquiring the red and blue with every possible gradation between the colors of the two sexes. 
South Atlantic and Gulf States, abundant ; up the coast to Carolina, and in the interior to 
Illinois ; Texas and Mexico. An exquisite little creature of matchless hues, well named the 
incomparable ; a fair songster, and a fixvorite cage-bird in Louisiana. Nest in bushes, 
hedges and low trees ; eggs pearly white, speckled with reddish and purplish browns. 
293. P. versi'color. (Lat. versicolor, various in color ; verto, I turn ; color, color.) Purple 
Painted Finch. Varied Bunting. Western Nonpareil. Prusiano. ^ , adult : Hind 
head, throat, and fore breast brownish-red or claret-color, the former sometimes scarlet ; hind 
neck and middle of back similar, but more obscured; fore-part of crown purplish -red ; rump and 
upper tail-coverts purplish -blue ; below, from the breast, and the wdngs and tail, dusky, tinged 
or glossed with purplish ; concealed white in feathers of side of rump ; lores and circumrostral 
feathers black. Bill horn-bluish, paler below, stouter than in the other species, with very 
convex culmen and concave cutting edge of upper mandible. Feet dark. The versicoloration 
is difficult to describe ; the general aspect is that of a purplish -dusky bird, redder or bluer here 
and there. Size of the others. 9 plain brown above, whitey-brown below, like amoena and 
cyanea; no whitish Aving-bars; no black stripe on gonys ; concealed white on sides of rump; 
bill stout. Lower California and Mexico, N. to U. S. border, especially in the Rio Grande 
Valley, where common in some localities. (Accidental in Michigan.) 
294. P. amoe'na. (Lat. amoena, delightful, charming, dressy.) Lazuli Painted Finch. ^, 
adult : Head and neck all around, entire upper parts, and lining of wings, rich azure or lapis- 
lazuli blue, more or less obscured on the middle of the back; the lores black. Below, from the 
blue neck, chestnut-brown, changing to white on the belly and crissum. A firm white wing- 
bar across ends of the median coverts, and usually another weaker one across tips of greater 
coverts. Wings and tail dusky, glossed with blue. Bill and feet bluish-black. Length 5.25- 
5.50; extent 8.00-8.50 ; wing 2.75-3.00 ; tail 2.25-2.50; bill 0.37; tarsus 0.65. 9, adult: 
Above, flaxen-brown, nearly uniform, but with slightly darker centres of the feathers, and some- 
times a faint bluish gloss. Below, buflfy or brownish-white, most colored on the breast, palest 
on throat and belly. Wings and tail fuscous, with faint bluish edgings usually, crossed with two 
decided browmish-white bars, — the chief distinction from 9 cyanea. $ , young : Like the 9 J 
when changing, patched with brown and blue; when very young, $ 9 somewhat streaky, 
especially on nnder parts. Replacing P. cyanea from the Plains to the Pacific, common in 
suitable places ; habits, nest, and eggs the same. 
295. P. cya'nea. (Lat. cyanea, Gr. Kvdveos, luaneos, dark blue. Fig. 253.) Indigo Painted 
Finch. Indigo-bird. Adult $ : Indigo-blue, intense and constant on the head, glancing 
greenish with difi'erent lights on other parts ; Mdngs and tail blackish, glossed with greenish- 
blue ; feathers around base of bill black ; bill dark above, rather paler below, with a curious 
black stripe along the gonys. 9 • Above, plain warm brown, below whitey-brown, obsoletely 
streaky on the breast and sides; wing-coverts and inner quills pale-edged, but not whitish; 
