284 SHARP-TAILED FINCH.
Adult Female. Plate CXLIX. Fig. 2.
The female is coloured like the male, but the tints are a little fainter.
This species is allied in form and habits to the Sea-side Finch, Fringilla
maritima, with which, however, it cannot possibly be confounded by
any person possessing the least observation. The description of that species
in my first volume being defective in several particulars, I here subjoin
a more accurate account of its colouring and dimensions taken from a
number of specimens.
Bill dark brown above, paler on the sides; the lower mandible bluishgrey,
but in some individuals dusky. Iris hazel. Feet and claws greyish
blue, tinged with brown. Crown of the head bluish-grey in the middle,
deep-brown at the sides, the feathers black along the centre. Hind
neck dull grey, tinged with brown ; back dark brown tinged with grey,
some of the feathers edged with greyish-white. Primary quills woodbrown,
secondary dark brown edged with reddish-brown ; the secondary
and smaller coverts principally of the latter colour ; the edge of the wing
yellow. Tail-feathers wood-brown, with a central line of blackish-brown,
excepting the lateral, which are plain and paler. A broad yellowishbrown
streak from the base of the bill over the eye, but not extending
beyond it. Throat and fore neck greyish-white, with a streak of bluishgrey
on each side. Breast and sides dull greyish-white, tinged with yellowish
red, and streaked with dusky; the middle of the breast and the
abdomen greyish-white; under tail-coverts pale yellowish-brown, streaked
with dusky.
Length 6{ inches, extent of wings 8; bill along the back along
the edge T
7
g ; tarsus
Fringilla maritima is a much larger bird than F. caudacuta ; the bill
is proportionally more elongated ; instead of the broad yellowish-red band
over the eye, it has a narrow and much shorter one of a duller tint; the
band of the same colour beneath the eye is wanting, and the under parts
are differently coloured and much duller. The third and fourth quills
are longest in F. maritima, the second and third in F. caudacuta, while
in the former the first is much shorter, and in the latter very little.
Another species of Finch, belonging to the same group, and which,
like F. maritima and F. caudacuta, is found abundantly in the salt marshes
of the Carolinas, has been discovered by my most worthy friend the Rev.
JOHN BACHMAN of Charleston, who has presented me with a dozen specimens
of it. With his approval, I have named it after a gentleman who,
besides being my friend, is possessed, not only of a technical, but also of
a practical knowledge of ornithology, and of whom I may safely say, that
he is unquestionably the best portrayer of the feathered race that I know.
It was my intention to have had the figures of this newly discovered species,
which were drawn at Charleston by my son JOHN WOODHOUSE, engraved
for the second volume of f* The Birds of Americabut the drawing
did not reach London in time. The plate, however, is finished, and
will appear in the fourth and last volume of that work. In the mean
time, I subjoin a brief description.
MACGILLIVRAY'S FINCH.
FRINGILLA MACGILLIVRAII.
Bill rather long, in other respects similar to those of the two species
mentioned above, as are the proportions of the different parts, and the
texture of the plumage. The second, third, and fourth quills are equal
and longest, and the tail is rounded.
Bill dusky-brown above, the sides of the upper mandible paler, the
lower mandible bluish-grey. Iris hazel. Feet dark brown. The colouring
is similar to that of F. maritima in the upper parts, and to
that of F. caudacuta in the lower, but is darker above than the former,
and duller beneath than the latter. Feathers of the head brownishblack
margined with dull greyish-brown, but not grey in the middle nor
darker towards the sides, as in the other species. Hind neck and back of
the same colour, the middle of the latter having some of the margins pale
reddish-brown. Primary quills hair-brown; secondary dark brown, edged
with reddish-brown ; the secondary and smaller coverts like the latter;
the edge of the wing white, slightly tinged with yellow. Tail-feathers
hair-brown at the edges, the centre blackish-brown, except the lateral,
which are plain, but scarcely paler. A yellowish-brown streak from the
nostrils over the eye. Throat and fore neck greyish-white, with an indistinct
dusky streak on each side. Breast and sides pale dull yellowish