Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/375

Rh I have represented a pair of tliese beautiful birds on a branch of the Wild Olive.

Feingilla CARBiNALis, Ch. BoTiaparte, Svnops. of Birds of the United States, p. 113.

Cardinal Grosbeak, Loxia cardinalis, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 38.pl. 2. fig. 1. Male; fig. 2. Female Nuttall, Manual, p. 519.

Adult Male. Plate CLIX. Fig. 1.

Bill short, very robust, conical, acute, deeper than broad at the base ; upper mandible with its dorsal outline a little convex, the sides rounded, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip slightly declinate ; lower mandible broader than the upper, with its dorsal line straight, the back broad, the sides rounded, the edges inflected ; the gap-line deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. Head large, neck short, body robust. Legs of moderate length, rather strong ; tarsus com- pressed, anteriorly covered with a few scutella, posteriorly sharp ; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal ; claws slender, arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe considerably larger.

Plumage soft and blended, slightly glossed. Wings of moderate length, broad, much rounded, the fourth quill longest ; primaries rather broad, rounded, from the second to the sixth slightly cut out on the outer web, secondaries rather narrow and rounded. Tail long, straight, rounded. Feathers of the crown long, pointed, and erectile.

Bill of a tint approaching to coral-red. Iris dark hazel. Feet pale umber. The whole upper parts of a deep dusky-red, excepting the head which is Vermillion. The anterior part of the forehead, the lores, and the upper anterior part of the neck, black. The under parts are vermil- hon, which is brightest anteriorly. Inner webs of the quills hght brown, their shafts and those of the tail-feathers blackish-brown.

Length 8| inches, extent of wings 11^; bill along the back j'j, along the edge f ; tarsus.

Adult Female. Plate CLIX. Fig. 2.

The female has a crest as well as the male, which it resembles in the texture of its plumage, but the tail is proportionally shorter. The general colour of the upper parts is dull greyish-brown slightly tinged with olive; the longer crest-feathers are streaked with dull red, the wings, coverts, and outer edges of the quills, are of the same tint ; the edge of the