, FEMALE INDIGO FINCH. 141 
% ( >}'' lese , species have, it is true, a hill somewhat 
V" 1 l |om that of the typical Coccothraustes, 
W (|;i j much less thick and turgid, and higher than 
iiii,] ’ the upper mandible being larger than the lower, 
*i4(. s Cove, 'i"g its margins entirely, compressed on the 
»b° v ; faking the ridge very distinct, (not rounded 
the ,U| 4 curved from the base, but at tip especially : 
ar gins of both are angular. 
34 . FHIXGILLA CYANEA, BONArARTE. 
FEMALE INDIGO FINCH. 
BONAPARTE, PLATE XV. FIG. IV. 
Wu4 remarkable disparity existing between the 
. M r ” e °f the different sexes of the common indigo 
f«>H a l en 4ers it almost indispensably requisite that the 
• ^accountably neglected by Wilson, as he 
'I l ( . s a 7 granted this distinction in similar, and often 
''ori ( s important, cases, should be described in this 
lht e | ‘ rlardly any North American bird more abso- 
in need of being thus illustrated than the 
d Vat' U ' hnch which is now the subject of our con- 
X,! 0n - It could scarcely be expected that the 
,J f Should easily recognize the brilliant indigo bird 
rr SOu ’ s second volume in the description which is 
!W of it. But, however simple in its appearance, 
'»tpo rt Uma ge of the female is far more interesting and 
1,1 th e aut than that of the male, as it belongs equally 
%l t y°nng, and to the adult male after the autumnal 
^ritirr’ previous to the change which ensues in the 
The’~-'~ a ^ ar g e proportion of the life of the bird. 
MU a j 'mportance of a knowledge of these changes 
%,„*• he duly estimated on recurring to the copious 
^(■cip-' la y, by which it will be seen that several nominal 
aave been made by naturalists who chanced to 
'o jj this bird during its transitions from one state 
‘he timer. Errors of this kind too frequently disfigure 
Ir Pages of zoology, owing to the ridiculous 
