Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/319

Rh Fringilla caudacuta, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 1 10. Sharp-tailed Finch, Fringilla caudacuta, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. pi. 70. fig. 3.

Shore Finch, Fringilla littoralis, Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 504.

Adult Male. Plate CXLIX. Fig. 1.

Bill shortish, strong, conical, acute; upper mandible of the same breadth as the lower, convex on the sides, the tip acute and slightly de- clinate; lower mandible convex on the back and sides, and both involute on the sharp edges. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body rather robust. Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutel- late, sharp behind; toes rather large, free, scutellate above, the lateral nearly equal, the hind toe strong; claws arched, much compressed, longish, acute, that of the hind toe larger.

Plumage ordinary, soft and blended beneath. Wings short and much curved; the second and third primaries longest and equal, the fourth scarcely shorter, the first and fifth about equal. Tail of ordinary length, graduated, slender, the feathers narrow and pointed.

Bill brownish-black above, the sides of the upper mandible yellow, the lower mandible light bluish-grey. Iris hazel. Feet pale brown. Crown of the head bluish-grey in the middle, deep brown at the sides, the feathers black along the centre. Hind neck dull grey, tinged with brown; back brown, tinged with grey, some of the feathers marked with black and edged with greyish- white. Primary quills wood-brown, secon- dary dark brown, edged Avith reddish-brown; the secondary and small coverts principally of the latter colour. Tail-feathers wood-brown, with a central line of blackish-brown, excepting the lateral, which are plain and paler. A broad band of light yellowish-red from the base of the man- dible over the eye; ear-coverts grey; fore neck pale yellowish-red, the throat paler and unspotted, the rest streaked with dusky. The sides of the same tint, but paler, and similarly streaked; the middle of the breast and the abdomen greyish white; under tail-coverts pale yellowish-red.

Length 5 inches, extent of wings 1; bill along the back f |, along the edge ^; tarsus j^g.