LAZULI FINCH. 
133 
standing these advantages, been often misunderstood ; 
and authors, without consulting the boundaries assigned 
to it by themselves, have recorded a copious list of 
species, whilst in nature its limits are much restricted. 
We are not, therefore, surprised, that so acute a zoolo- 
gist as Say should have arranged his bird in that genus, 
particularly as it is more closely allied to Emberiza 
than many of those, not only of Wilson, but even of 
Linne and Latham. 
This bird, which we have no hesitation in pro- 
nouncing one of the most beautiful of its tribe, would 
be placed by Vieillot in his genus Passerina ; but, 
according to my classification, it belongs to the genus 
Fringilla, and to that American suh-genus lately esta- 
blished in my “ Observations on the Nomenclature of 
WilsorCs Ornithology under the name of Spiza. As 
a species, it is more intimately allied to Fringilla ciris 
and Fringilla cyanea* which I stated in that paper to 
differ so much from their congeners, particularly in the 
greater curvature of the upper mandible, as to deserve, 
perhaps, a separation into a small sub-genus by them- 
selves : this would unite Fringilla to Tanagra, as 
Spiza, on the other hand, shews its transition to 
Emberiza . 
The lazuli finch is five inches and three quarters 
long; the bill is formed like that of the Indigo bird, 
^Fringilla cyanea, Wilson,) but is emarginated near 
the tip, being horn colour, as well as the feet ; the irides 
are dark brown ; the whole head and neck are brilliant 
verdigrise blue ; the back is brownish black, intermixed 
with blue, and a little ferruginous brown ; the rump is 
pure verdigrise blue ; the superior portion of the breast 
is pale ferruginous ; the lower part of the breast, the 
belly, and inferior tail-coverts, are white ; the smaller 
wing-coverts are blue ; the middling-coverts are blackish 
at base, and broadly tipped with white, forming a wide 
band across the wing ; the greater wing-coverts are 
* Its relation to Fringilla cyanea, considered as an Emberiza, 
probably induced Say to place it under that genus. 
