LAZULI FINCH. 
473 
Subgenus. — Spiza. ( Bonap .) 
With the edges of the lower mandible narrowed in. 
t Species allied to Tanagra, With the hill somewhat curved. 
LAZULI FINCH. 
{Fringilla amcena , Bonap. Am. Orn. i. p. 61. pi. 6. fig. 5. Emberiza 
amoena, Say. Phil. Museum, No. 5919.) 
Sp. Charact. — Verdigris-blue ; beneath white; breast pale red- 
dish ferruginous ; wings with 2 white bars ; the bill notched. — 
Young and female ? 
For the first notice of this beautiful bird we are in- 
debted to Mr. Say, who met with it in Long’s expedition. 
It was observed, though rarely in the summer months, 
along the banks of the Arkansas, near to the base of the 
Rocky Mountains, frequenting the bushy valleys, keeping 
much in the grass after its food, and but seldom alight- 
ing on the trees or shrubs. It greatly resembles the In- 
digo Bird ; yet its note is wholly different. 
The length of this Finch is 5§ inches. Head, neck, and rump, 
bright verdigris-blue ; the back brownish-black, mixed with blue and 
with touches of rusty-brown. Superior part of the breast pale ferru- 
ginous, inclining to rose-red ; lower part of the breast, belly, and infe- 
rior tail-coverts white ; quills blackish, obscurely margined with 
blue externally ; under wing-coverts whitish with some mixture of 
blue. Tail slightly notched, blackish, edged with blue on the outer 
vanes, and with white on the inner webs at tip. The dress of the 
female and young is unknown. 
INDIGO BIRD. 
(. Fringilla cyanea, Wilson, i. p. 100. pi. 6. fig. 5. [male]. Bonap. ii. 
pi. 11. fig. 3. [female]. Audubon, pi. 74. Orn. Biog. i. p. 277. 
Phil. Museum, No. 6002.) 
Sp. Charact. — Bright blue with a green reflection; wings and 
tail dusky, the latter edged with blue. — Female brownish flaxen, 
40 * 
