Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/217

Rh Scarcely any difference is perceptible in the plumage of the sexes, and by the time the young return to us the following spring, they have ob- tained the full plumage of their parents.

Fringilla passerina, Ch. Bonaparte, Sjnops. of Birds of the United States, p. 109. Yellow-winged Sparrow, Fringilla passerina, Wils. Amer. Omith. vol. iii- p. 76. pi. 24. fig. 5.

Savannah Finch, or Yellow-shouldered Bunting (Fringilla savanarum, Gmel.) Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 494.

Bill short, conical, acute ; upper mandible slightly convex in its dorsal outline, angular, and encroaching a little on the forehead, of the same breadth as the lower, with sharp and inflected edges ; lower mandible also inflected ont he edges ; gap-line slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body full. Feet of moderate length, slender ; tarsus covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella, acute behind ; toes free, scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal ; claws slender, compressed, acute, slightly arched, that of the hind toe elongated.

Plumage soft and blended, slightly glossed. Wings shortish, curved, rounded, the first and second primaries longest, the third scarcely shorter: the secondaries long, but less so than in the Henslow Bunting, which belongs to the same group. Tail short, small, rounded, slightly emargi- nate, of twelve narrow, tapering feathers.

Bill flesh-coloured beneath, dusky above. Iris dark brown. Feet light flesh-coloured. The general colour of the upper parts is light greyish-brown, mixed on the neck with ash-grey tints, the central parts of the feathers brownish-black, the margins of those of the back bright chestnut. The upper part of the head brownish-black, with a longitudinal central line of brownish- white. Secondary coverts dusky, margined with greyish -white ; along the flexure of the wing the small feathers are bright yellow, whence the name of the species. Quills wood-brown, margined with pale yellowish-brown. Tail-feathers of the same colour, the outermost much paler. The under parts pale yellowish-grey, the breast of a richer tint, being of a light yellowish-brown, its sides anteriorly spotted with brownish-black.

Length 4{ g inches, extent of wings 8 ; bill along the ridge p^, along the edge ^ ; tarsus |, middle toe a little more than 2, hind toe j.