Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, volume 1.djvu/362

334 :

Adult Male. Plate LXV. Fig. 1.

Bill of ordinary length, nearly straight, subulato-conical, acute, as deep as broad at the base, with sharp edges. Nostrils basal, oval, half concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body ovate. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus compressed, covered anteriorly with a few long scutella, acute behind, a little longer than the middle toe; toes free, scutellate above; claws arched, slender, compressed, acute.

Plumage blended, soft, and tufty. Wings of ordinary length, the second quill longest. Tail rather short, nearly even, of twelve obtuse feathers.

Bill yellowish-brown above, yellow beneath. Iris hazel. Feet flesh-colour. The general colour is bright yellow, the upper parts olivaceous. Quills and tail wood-brown, the former yellow on the outer web, the latter margined externally with the same colour.

Length $4 1/2$ inches; bill along the ridge $1/3$, along the gap $5/12$; tarsus $7/12$, middle toe $1/2$.

Adult Female. Plate LXV. Fig. 2.

The female is almost precisely the same in external appearance.


 * , Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. iii. p. 297. Pursh, Flor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 419.—, Linn., Juss.

This species is distinguished by its conjugate cirrhous leaves, with oblongo-lanceolate leaflets, which are somewhat cordate at the base, the lower leaves single. The flowers are carmine.