3G8 
REV. n. A. MACniERSON ON HYBRID FINCHES. 
that the writer has examined when in full plumage. Bill conical, 
stouter than in the Goldfinch ; forehead, chin, and malar region, 
golden red ; crown black ; hack nut-brown ; upper tail coverts 
white ; wings black, the tips of the greater wing coverts forming a 
light red bar ; tail feathers black, the outer rectrices edged witli 
white on the inside ; throat, breast, and lower parts, pink (often 
edged with cinnamon). The only two females that the writer has 
seen resembled males in all but their subdued tints, the pink 
breast of the male being replaced by dusky brown. 
(2) The Goldfinch also interbreeds with the Greenfinch, and 
produces strong-voiced offspring, which do not acquire full beauty 
until their second annual moult. The following description applies 
to adult males of the Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Forehead and 
chin golden bronze or orange ; crown and nape grey ; back 
nut-brown ; primaries black, edged with yellow' or bright orange, 
tipped wdth white ; tail black ; breast and lower parts yellowish 
brown. In a young specimen the breast was dull brown, and the 
Hanks w'ere streaked as in a young Greenfinch. 
(3) The Goldfinch pairs wdth the Linnet, and a female Linnet 
in Mr. A^errall’s aviary mated with two Goldfinches in two seasons. 
In an adult Goldfinch-Linnet hybrid, shown at the Crystal Ptdacc 
in 1887, the forehead is golden yellow (as in many Goldfinch- 
Canary mules) ; crowui greyish black ; back brown ; quill feathers 
black, the primaries edged wdth gold ; throat and lower parts 
light brown. 
In the nestlings bred by Mr. Verrall in 1885, the head and 
iqipcr parts w'crc of a Linnet-browai, the primaries narrowly edged 
wdth yellow ; lower parts brow'n. The shape is usually that of the 
Idnnet. 
(4) The Goldfinch occasionally pairs wdth the female Siskin. 
A hybrid of this description shown at the Alexandra Palace Sliow' 
approximated in size and greyness of colour to a female Siskin, 
but possessed the bright forehead of the Goldfinch. 
(5) The Goldfinch rarely pairs with the Lesser Redpoll, but 
a hybrid Goldfinch-Redpoll was exhibited at Westminster in 188G. 
This bird resembled the Redpoll in the disposition of red upon the 
forehead; the upper parts were brown as in the Redpoll; quill 
feathers black, the inner primaries edged with yellow'; throat 
