264 
INDIGO BIRD. 
wings black, edged with light blue, and becoming brownish 
towards the tips; lesser coverts light blue; greater black, 
broadly skirted with the same blue; tail black, exteriorly 
edged with blue; bill black above, whitish below, somewhat 
larger in proportion than Finches of the same size usually are, 
but less than those of the genus Emberiza, with which Pen- 
nant has classed it, though I think improperly, as the bird has 
much more of the form and manners of the genus Fringilla, 
where I must be permitted to place it; legs arid feet blackish 
brown. The female is of a light flaxen colour, with the wings 
dusky black, and the cheeks, breast, and whole lower parts a 
clay colour, with streaks of a darker colour under the wings, 
and tinged in several places with bluish. Towards fall the male 
while moulting becomes nearly of the colour of the female, and 
in one which I kept through the winter, the rich plumage did 
not return for more than two months; though I doubt not had 
the bird enjoyed his liberty and natural food under a warm sun 
this brownness would have been of shorter duration. The usual 
food of this species is insects and various kinds of seeds. 
