202 
PASSERINE. COCCOTHRAUSTES, 
tain, but more common in the southern than in the northern i 
parts. The nest, placed in a bush or low tree, is formed of ! 
grass, moss, and downy filaments, and lined with seed-down. 
The eggs, four or five, are pale bluish-green, spotted with 
brown. I 
Lesser Redpoll. i 
Fringilla Linaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 322. — Fringilla Lina- 
ria, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. i. 373. — Linaria minor. Smaller 
Redpoll Linnet, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 383. | 
GENUS LXIII. COCCOTHRAUSTES. GROSBEAK, i 
Bill of moderate length or rather long, straight, conical, ; 
extremely thick, higher than broad at the base, acute ; up- | 
per mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, the ridge ( 
broad and rounded, the sides rounded, the edges slightly in- 
flected, with a slight notch close to the tip ; lower mandible j 
broader at the base, and somewhat larger than the upper, : 
with its crura extremely thick, the angle extremely short, 
the dorsal line straight, the back very broad, the edges in- 
flected ; gape-line a little arched. Mouth rather wide ; both 
mandibles deeply concave ; tongue sagittate, narrow, grooved 
above, the tip bifid ; oesophagus wide, dilated on the middle 
of the neck ; proventriculus bulbiform ; stomach roundish, 
compressed, with very strong lateral muscles, and dense, 
longitudinally rugous epithelium ; intestine of moderate 
length, rather wide ; coeca very small, cylindrical. Nostrils 
small, elliptical, basal, concealed by the reflected feathers. 
Eyes of moderate size. Ears large, oval. Head large and 
broad ; neck short and thick ; body moderate. Legs short ; 
tarsus compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; toes slender, 
compressed; claws rather long, arched, deep, much com- 
pressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage blended, soft ; 
wing broad, of moderate length, the outer three quills nearly 
equal, the second longest ; tail short, a little emarginate. 
This genus is composed of a few species belonging to both 
continents, remarkable for the extraordinary thickness and 
strength of their conical bill. This thickness of the bill ren- 
ders necessary a large size of head, and a thick neck, which 
give to these birds a clumsy appearance, their body and limbs 
seeming disproportionately small. Only one species occurs 
in Britain. 
