192 
CRIMSON-EARED BENGALY. 
Estrelda pJuenicotis, Swains. 
PLATE XIY. 
Grey-brown beneath ; tail blue ; ears, in the male, crimson. 
Fringilla Benghalus, Linn. i. 323, male. — Fringilla Bengalus, 
Vieill. Ency. Meth. 987, 122 Le Bengali, Bujfon , PL Enl . 
115, 1, fig. pessima. — Blue-bellied. Finch, Edwards , 131, 
female ; Latham , &c. — Le mareposa, Vieill. Ois. Chant. PI. 5. 
Tiie most remarkable peculiarity in this elegant 
little bird, and that which immediately strikes the 
observer, is the deep red spot upon the ears of the 
male. We propose, therefore, to name it from this 
circumstance, seeing that the former appellation of 
Beiighahis is in violation of that rule of systematic 
nomenclature which interdicts all specific names 
taken from barbarous words. Whether Linnaus 
intended to imply that this bird inhabited Bengal, 
or Benghaly, a name no longer found in the modem 
geography, is altogether uncertain ; but as the 
French have long applied it to the entire group, it 
cannot be retained as distinctive of any particular 
species. 
The form is altogether typical of this section or 
type of the genus : the bill is lengthened, conic, and 
