298 
FRINGILI.A. 
wings are deep blackish brown, the greater and 
less coverts tipped with white, forming thus two 
bars across the shoulder; the secondaries are 
broadly margined with reddish brown, the quills 
with narrow margin of the same colour on their 
outer web, broadening where the web widens, 
and extending to the shaft at the base. The 
rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, are umber 
brown, the latter with the feathers having pale 
edges. The under parts are grayish white, tinted 
with yellowish brown on the sides of the breast 
and flanks. In the female the markings are less 
distinct, and the black and chestnut of the head 
more subdued. 
Our next genus is composed of the typical 
birds of the present sub-family, the Fringillm or 
Finches, more elegant in their form than the 
last, and possessing a greater variety in the dis- 
tribution of the colours of their plumage. They 
are principally natives of rather temperate cli- 
mates, Europe and America being their strong- 
holds. At the same time, these countries can 
scarcely with strictness be called their geogra- 
phical limit, for we believe that some of them 
pass the Asiatic boundary ; while it is not certain 
that Northern Africa, and some of the islands 
which are generally placed as belonging to that 
continent, do not possess typical species. They 
are subject to a marked periodical change of 
plumage, and most species are partially or wholly 
migratory. 
