132 
FRINGILLA AMCENA. 
they cannot then he readily distinguished. The black 
of the wings is, however, somewhat more intense ; the 
white of the wings and of the tail is dull and dirty, and 
a yellowish tint prevails around the eyes, as well as on 
the neck. 
As the season advances, the plumage of the adult 
male gradually changes, hut not simultaneously in the 
different individuals, so that in the spring and autumn 
we rarely find two that are alike ; some being more or 
less yellow, having a rudiment of black on the head, 
&c. according as the moulting process is more or less 
advanced. 
A remarkable variety is exhibited in a changing 
male, which I shot near Philadelphia, in the month of 
April, and which is therefore considerably advanced 
towards perfect plumage. All the primaries are pure 
white on the outer web towards the base, thus con- 
stituting, in the most obvious manner, that white spot 
beyond the wing-coverts, assigned by Say as a good 
discriminating mark between this species and the pre- 
ceding. The fact we have related diminishes the value 
of this character, which is nevertheless a very good one ; 
but as many other distinctions are observable, we need 
not rely exclusively upon it. The deviation we have 
here mentioned is the more remarkable, as the greater 
number of species allied to this bird have that spot, 
either white or yellow. 
Since writing the above, I obtained, from one of the 
large flocks in which these birds congregate in the 
autumn, several specimens of both sexes, more or less 
distinguished by the marking above stated as peculiar 
to the variety. 
• ,^11 
SI. FEINGILLA AMCENA, BONAPARTE, 
LAZULI FINCH. 
BONAPARTE, PLATE VI. FIG. V. 
The genus Ember iza, though very natural, and 
distinguished by well marked characters, has, notwith* 
