Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/239

Rh through the eye over the ear-coverts brown stippled with red ; the whole lower plumage rosy red, the lower part of the abdomen whitish; the under tail-coverts pale brown, edged with white; under wing-coverts and axillaries greyish brown tinged with fulvous.

Female. In general appearance similar to the female of P. nepal- ensis, but the whole upper plumage, except the back, and the margins of the wings and tail suffused with crimson, of which there is not a trace in the other species ; the lower plumage much paler, becoming albescent on the abdomen.

Length about 5*5 ; tail 2'2 ; wing 3*3 ; tarsus '75 ; bill from gape -55. The bill is thicker in this species than in P. nejpaleiisis.

Distribution. Sikhim arid the eastern portion of Nepal, probably at high elevations.

Genus CARDUELIS, Briss., 1760.

The genus Garduelis contains the Goldfinches, of which two species are known, one inhabiting Europe and Western Asia, and the other Central Asia down to the Himalayas. The Goldfinches are charac- terized by a long, slender, straight and sharply pointed bill, long wings, the bright red colour of the face, and the bright yellow on the wing. The sexes are very closely similar.

767. Carduelis caniceps. The Himalayan Gold/inch.

Carduelis caniceps, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 23; Gould, Cent. pi. 33, fig. 1 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 124 ; Horsf. 8f M. Cat. ii,p.493 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 408 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. ii, p. 61 ; Hume, Cat. no. 749; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 85 ; Scully, Ibis, 1881, p. 578 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xii, p. 189.

Shira, Hind. ; Saira, Kashm.

Fig. 61. Head of C. caniceps. Coloration. Male. Forehead, chin, and the cheeks next the bill crimson ; lores black ; upper plumage ashy brown, becoming whitish on the rump ; upper tail-coverts white; lesser, median, and primary coverts with the winglet black, sometimes with ashy margins ; greater coverts chiefly bright yellow ; primaries and secondaries black, with a considerable portion of the outer webs of all but the first primary bright yellow, the inner w ebs margined with white ; the tertiaries each with a large oval white mark on the outer web ; tail black, the two outer pairs of feathers largely white on the inner webs, the two middle pairs tipped white: throat ashy white; sides