110 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
now take a hasty survey of each of these primary divi- 
sions. 
(126.) The CoccothrausUntE, or, as they may be called, 
the hardbills, are the most typical of all the finches, in- 
asmuch as they comprise those birds which possess the 
largest, the most conic, and the most powerful bills. 
The whole group is arboreal, — that is, they contain such 
birds only as five entirely among trees, and which do 
not, like the sparrows and buntings, frequent tlie ground 
in search of their food. Our well-knoivn hawfinch 
(Coccothraustes europceus), although not a strictly or pre- 
eminently typical example, will nevertheless convey a very 
good idea of the general structure 
of these birds; and the greenfinch 
(although even less typical) is 
no bad example. The other native 
birds which enter into the aber- 
rant genera, are the goldfinches 
and the linnets. In all these, 
as well as in nearly all the foreign hardbills, the upper 
mandible is entire. The whole of these birds are 
arranged under the five following genera: — 1. Cocco- 
thmustes; 2. Ploceus ; 3. Tiaris ; 4. Carduelis ; 
and, 5. Linaria; the last of which is connected to the 
first by means of the gi-een linnet {FrmgiUn ehlorU of 
authors), which is immeiliately followed by the Europe- 
an hawfinch, in the typical genus Coccoihmustes. No 
affinities can possibly be stronger : and this at once closes 
the circle. The genus Coccothramtes seems to be dis- 
tributed in all parts of the world ; and its modifications 
are so remarkable, tliat we have ventured, after a very 
close analysis of the group, to designate its subgenera : 
at the head of the these, and consequently of the entire 
family, stands the subgenus Pyrenestes, at present com- 
posed of only three or four birds, peculiar to the little- 
known regions of Tropical Africa, where many others, no 
doubt, remain undiscovered. Their bill (Jig. 32. Vol. I.) is 
truly enormous, considering the size of the body ; for it is 
frequently as deep and as large as the head, and must be 
