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FAMILY XY. FRINGILLINiE. FINCHES. 
Bill short, stout, conical, acute ; upper mandible generally with its dorsal 
line more or less convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected or direct, the 
tip acute ; lower mandible with the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, 
the edges involute. Gap-line ascending for more than a fourth of its length, 
then direct. Nostrils basal, roundish, partly concealed by the feathers. 
Head of moderate size, or rather large, ovate or roundish ; neck short ; body 
compact ; tarsus generally shorter than the middle toe with its claw, com- 
pressed, with seven or eight anterior scutella ; hind toe stout ; outer toe 
adherent at the base, lateral about equal. Claws long or moderate, com- 
pressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage soft and blended, but firm. 
Wings various, acute, or rounded. Tail of twelve feathers. Roof of upper 
mandible concave, with three prominent lines, of which the middle is some- 
times elevated into an oblong hard prominence. Tongue much compressed, 
pointed ; oesophagus rather wide, with a dilatation or crop on the right side ; 
stomach roundish or oblong, muscular, with the epithelium thin, dense, and 
longitudinally rugous ; intestine short, rather wide ; coecavery small, cylin- 
drical. Trachea simple, with four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. The 
Fringillinae pass into the Icterinae on the one hand, and the Alaudinae on the 
other. The Buntings scarcely differ from the Finches in any other character 
than the knob on the palate, which is common to them with the Icterinae. 
Genus I.— PLECTROPHANES, Meyer. LARK-BUNTING. 
Bill very short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed ; upper mandible 
considerably narrower than the lower, its dorsal outline very slightly con- 
vex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the marginal outline slightly 
angulate ; lower mandible with the dorsal line ascending and slightly con- 
vex, the edges involute. Nostrils basal, roundish, partly concealed by the 
feathers. Head of moderate size, ovate ; neck short, body compact, tarsus 
shorter than the middle toe with its claw, compressed, with seven anterior 
scutella ; hind toe stout ; claws long, rather stout, little arched, acute, that 
of the hind toe much elongated. Plumage soft and blended. Wings long, 
pointed; the first quill longest. Tail rather long, emarginate. 
