Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/549

Rh Fringilla canadensis, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 434 — Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 109.

Emberiza canadensis. Tree Buntling, Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. vol. iL p. 252.

Tree Sparrow, Fringilla arborea, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 123. pi. 16. fig. 3. — F. canadensis, Nuttall, Manual, part i. 495.

Adult Male. Plate CLXXXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, strong, conical, acute; upper mandible rather narrower than the lower, with the dorsal outline very slightly convex, the sides rounded, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip very slightly declinate ; lower mandible also shghtly convex in its dorsal line, the sides rounded, the edges involute ; the gap-line slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. The general form rather ro- bust. Legs of moderate length, slender ; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, sharp behind ; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal ; claws slender, slightly arched, that of the hind-toe considerably larger, much compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended. Wings of moderate length ; the third and fourth quills longest and equal, but the second, third, fourth, and fifth are about the same length, and slightly cut out on the outer edge; secondaries emarginate. Tail long, emarginate, nearly straight, of twelve rather narrow, obliquely pointed feathers.

Bill black above, reddish-yellow beneath, with tlie tip blackish. Iris brown. Legs dusky-brown, the toes blackish-brown. Upper part of the head bright bay ; a band of greyish-white passes over the eye, lighter at its commencement near the upper mandible, and gradually shaded into ash-grey ; sides of the head and neck ash-grey, the latter with some streaks of bay, of which a short band proceeds from the eye backwards. Middle of the back streaked with deep brown, bay, and pale yellowish-grey; rump light yellowish-grey. Wing-coverts similar to the back, the first row of small coverts, and the secondary coverts broadly edged with bright bay and largely tipped with white, of which there are thus two conspicuous bands across the wing ; quills dusky, margined the outer with dull white, the inner with pale bay, the three inner secondaries broadly margined towards the end vvith white. Tail-feathers also dusky, margined externally and internally with greyish-white, the edge of the outermost pure white. Fore-neck pale grey, the sides yellowish grey, the