ARKANSAW SISKIN. 
127 
the exterior primary is equal to the third ; both are 
very little shorter than the second, which is longest ; 
the outer webs of the second, third, and fourth primaries, 
being whitish near their bases, form a distinct spot on 
the wing. The tail is rounded, the feathers being 
blackish brown ; the two intermediate ones are imma- 
culate, somewhat paler than the others. The adjoining 
ones have a small white spot at tip, which, on the 
lateral feathers, increases in size, until, on the exterior 
one, it occupies half the total length of the feather ; 
whilst its exterior web is white to the base. 
The female is very similar to the male, but the 
colours are duller, and the stripes on the head are not 
so decided ; the auriculars, moreover, are yellowish- 
brown. 
This species has the bill and feet precisely similar 
to those of Wilson’s black-throated bunting, and those 
other Fringillce, and supposed Emberizce, of which 1 have 
constituted the sub-genus Spiza , in my Observations 
on Wilson's Ornithology . It cannot be mistaken for 
any other species, being very peculiar in its markings 
and manners. 
29 . FJUNGILLA PSALTRIA , SAY. —ARKANSAW SISKIN. 
BONAPARTE, PLATE VI. FIG. III. 
“ A very pretty little bird,” writes Say, in his 
precious zoological notes to the journal of Long’s 
expedition, “ was frequently seen hopping about in the 
low trees or bushes, singing sweetly, somewhat in the 
manner of the American goldfinch, or hemp bird, Frin - 
gilla tristis. The tints, and the distribution of the 
colours of its plumage, resemble, in a considerable 
degree, those of the autumnal and less brilliant vesture 
of that well known species. It may, however, be 
distinguished, in addition to other differences, by the 
black tip of its tail feathers, and the white wing spot.” 
The Arkansaw siskin inhabits the country near the 
base of the Rocky Mountains, south of the river Platte, 
