174 
BEAUTIFUL BIllDS. 
rather tooth-like process close to its base, while the 
commissure, or line formed by the joining of the two 
mandibles, is nearly straight ; the nostrils are vertical, 
pierced behind the substance of the hill, hut com- 
pletely covered with the frontal feathers. The wings 
are rather short, and much rounded. The feet large 
and slender ; the middle toe very long, exceeding with 
its claw the length of the tarsus ; the hind claw is as 
Ions: as its toe, as in manv of the scansorial birds. The 
tail is broad, and much rounded. 
The coloimug of the plumage is rich, yet simple. 
The feathers of the whole head, neck, breast, upper 
tail coverts, and half-way down the flanks, are of 
bright crimson, and appear glossy, as if polished, but 
without any coloured reflections. The tail is of a dull 
red, but the inner half of the lateral feathers is black ; 
the quills are nearly so. All the rest of the plumage 
is a uniform sepia brown. Bill, deep black ; legs, 
brown ; claws, long, slender, and but little curved. 
Total length of the bird, five inches and three 
quarters. 
In the Cardinals (^Griiaricci), the upper mandible is 
larger than the lower, covering its margins entirely, 
as in the Bullfinches ; its form is not so completely 
angular, but is very slightly curved. Bed is the pre- 
dominating colour of the plumage, which, in the soft- 
ness of its texture, resembles that of the true Bull- 
finches. The wings are generally short, and the tail 
rather long than otherwise. The type of this division 
is the Bed Cardinal (^Guarica cardinalis), Cardinal 
Grosbeak, or Yirginian Nightingale, as it has some- 
times been called. Caged specimens of this species 
