DESCRIPTION
Of a specimen (sex not ascertained), killed May 14, 1827-
Colour.—General cast of the ground of the upper plumage light clay-colour, or yellowish-
brown, which edges all the feathers of the wings and tail, and becomes French-grey towards
the nape ; the middle of each feather having a dark blackish-brown stripe down the middle,
most conspicuous on those of the back: these spots are crowded into two stripes on the
head, between which is a paler line ; over each eye is another, much more conspicuous, and
whiter. Ears yellowish-brown, with a darker edging, and bordered below with a stripe
whiter than the throat. Lesser or smallest wing covers without spots; the row adjoining the
greater covers black, with whitish tips ; the rest of the covers and quills edged with the same.
Under plumage white, tinged very slightly with grey, and, on the breast and flanks, with clay-
colour. Bill and legs yellowish, the ridge and tip of the former umber-brown.
F orm, nearly typical, taking the Emberiza schaeniclus as one of the best examples of the
group. Bill of the same size, but rather more conic than that of E. pusilla, and the notch,
in both, can scarcely be distinguished; the upper mandible is nearly as thick as, the under,
and the margins much inflexed. In the structure and proportion of its wings, feet, and tail
it perfectly resembles Emb. schaeniclus.*—Sw.
D im en sio n s.
Inch. Length total Un. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. „ of tail . 5 9 Length of bill above . . 0 4 Length of middle toe. . 0 6 . 2 8 ,, of bill to rictus . 0 5 „ of its nail • . 0 2
,, of wing . . 2 6 ,, of tarsus . 0 7è ,, of hind toe . 0 3
,, of its nail . . 0 2 |
[69.] 5. E m b e r iz a C a n a d e n s is . (Swainson.) Tree-Buntling.
G e n u s , E m b e riz a , L i n n .
Mountain Sparrow (Hen). E dwards, pi. 269; lower figure.
F r in g illa m o n ta n a f. F o r s t e r , Phil. Trans., lxii., p . 4 0 5 , N o . 2 9 .
Tree Sparrow. P e n n . Arct. Zool., ii., p. 373, No. 246. W il so n , ii>, p. 123, pi. 16, f. 3.
F r in g illa C a n ad e n sis. B o n a p . Syn., p . 10 9, N . 175.
The Tree-Buntling arrives, in small flocks, on the banks of the Saskatchewan
* The Fringilla socialis is also an Emberiza, although, perhaps, the most aberrant species in America. The F.
melodia of Wilson seems to connect this group with Zonotrichia. The African Emberiza differ only from the American
in the length of their tertiary quills, thus leading to the true Larks.—Sw.
+ The error of confounding this species with the Fringilla montana, L., of Britain, originated in one of the very
few mistakes of Edwards. This error was adopted by Dr. Latham, who, nevertheless, describes our present bird a
second time under the name of “ Mountain Sparrow,” (Gen. Syn., iii., p. 265,) copying his description and name of
Canadensis from Brisson. Pennant, and subsequently Wilson, rectified this error; yet, notwithstanding all this, Dr.
Latham not only continues to confound both these species in his General History, but, by a most strange and unaccountable
mistake, leaves out his Mountain Sparrow; thus actually destroying the only distinct record in his work of
in the third week in April, and, after a short halt, proceeds farther north to
breed. It winters in the United States.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed at Penetanguishene, on Lake Huron.
C olour.— Head above, bright chestnut-brown; ear feathers margined superiorly by a stripe
of the same ; a white superciliary line from the bill to the hind head. Upper surface and
sides of the neck bluish-grey. Back, wing coverts, and secondaries blackish-brown, lightly
bordered with chestnut-brown. Tips of the greater coverts, lower row of lesser coverts,
and the outer edges'of the tertiaries, white, forming two bands. Primaries, their coverts,
and the tail feathers clove-brown, edged with white, particularly the outer pair of the latter.
Tail coverts yellowish-grey. Cheeks and the whole under plumage ash-coloured, tinged
with yellowish-brown on the flanks. There is also a dark, blackish spot in the middle of
the breast. Bill dark-brown, paler beneath. Legs brown.
F orm slightly aberrant. Bill small: a small knob on the posterior part of the palate.
Third quill the longest, second and fourth nearly equal to it, first a little shorter than the
fifth: secondaries truncated and notched. Tad divaricated, the feathers being nearly
equal, except the middle pair, which are two lines shorter. The hind nail is nearly twice
the length of the middle one.
Another specimen, probably a female, killed, on the 27th of April, at Carlton, differs in
the chestnut-coloured feathers of the head being slightly fringed with white, and in the upper
plumage in general shewing less of the chestnut.
D im en sio n s
Of the male.
Inch. Un. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin.
Length total . . 6 3 Length of bill above . . 0 4f Length of middle toe . 0 6?
„ of tail . 2 6 „ of bill to rictus . 0 5 „ of its daw . 0
„ of wing . 3 0 „ of tarsus • . 0 9J ,, of hind daw . 0 4
— R .
The form and general structure of the bill, the great inflection of the mandibles,
and, above all, the emarginate tail and lengthened hind claw, render
this species a decided Emberiza,—although the nearly-equal size of the mandibles
points it out as slightly aberrant in its own group.—Sw.
our present species ! It might have been found as a distinct species in the Synopsis ; but, as such, in the History it
disappears. Such synonymes cannot, of course, be cited. Dr. Latham having thus expunged the name of Fringilla
Canadensis, his authority can no longer be cited for its correct meaning.—Sw.