PASSERINE. FRINGILLA. 
195 
rounded, the edges inflected ; gape-line straight. Mouth 
rather narrow, both mandibles deeply concave ; tongue sagit- 
tate, subulato-lanceolate, involute so as to be nearly tubular, 
the tip terminated by a pencil of short bristles ; oesophagus 
dilated into a large crop ; proventriculus bulbiform ; gizzard 
roundish, compressed, with very strong lateral muscles and 
radiated tendons ; its cuticular lining dense, and longitudi- 
nally rugous ; intestine of moderate length, rather wide ; 
coeca very small, cylindrical. Nostrils nearly circular, basal, 
concealed by the reflected feathers. Eyes of moderate size. 
Head oblong, moderate ; neck short ; body compact. Legs 
short ; tarsus compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; toes 
slender, compressed ; claws rather long, slender, arcuate, 
compressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage soft and 
blended ; wings broad, with the outer four quills nearly equal, 
but the second and third longest ; tail rather long or mode- 
rate, emarginate. 
120. Fringilla ccelebs. Chaffinch. 
Male with the upper part of the head and the hind neck 
greyish-blue ; a black band on the forehead ; the back reddish- 
brown, the rump yellowish-green ; the fore neck and breast 
purplish-red. Female with the upper part of the head and the 
back light greyish-brown, the rump yellowish-green, the breast 
pale yellowish-grey. Young similar to the female, but with 
the tints paler. Few birds exhibit the effects of the wearing 
of the feathers in a more remarkable manner than the male 
Chaffinch, which in the breeding season has the black of the 
forehead, and the greyish-blue of the head, unmixed, the red 
of the back brighter, and the breast of a much lighter tint. 
The bill, which in winter is pale reddish-brown, also becomes 
of a fine leaden blue. 
Male, 6^, 11^? 3^, Female, 6^, 10. 
This species is of very common occurrence in ail the wooded 
and cultivated parts of the country. Toward the end of au- 
tumn it forms flocks, which betake themselves to the neigh- 
bourhood of houses, searching for food by the hedges, in gar- 
dens, farm-yards, and fields, and associating with Greenfinches, 
Yellow Buntings, Sparrows, and Linnets. In winter it feeds 
chiefly on seeds, but in summer on insects and larvse. It has 
a rapid and undulated flight, alights abruptly, walks by short 
leaps, and is among the most familiar of our birds. Its song 
