54
ARKANSAW SISKIN.
F R IN G IL L A P S A L T R IA .
Elate VI. Fig, §.b-
Fringilla psaltria, Say, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, II, p. 40.
Philadelphia Museum, No>;,6278'.
: ; A VERT„pretty little bird,” writes Say, in his precious .zoological
notes to the journal o f. Long’f^expeditionj,1 & was' frequently1 seen
hopping about in the low trees or bushes, singing .sweetly, somewhat
in -the manner of 8 ^ . American Goldfinch, Li®B Hempbird, Fringilliz
tristis.,, Thg-tints, and the distribution of the nblburs ,of ijs plumage,
resemble, in a considerable degree, those of the autumnal aiul less
brilliant vesture of that well known Species,. I t, may,' ho^s,yer^f be
distinguished, in addition: to: other differences, by the black tip oftits
tail feathers, and the white wing spoti|||ljj
The Arkansaw Siskin .inhabits tthe .country .near the base of . the
Rocky Mountains, south of the river..Platte, and probably fs\a-lso *to
be found in Mexico. The only specimen brought by the party, <w&s
shot on the sixteenth of " July, near Boiling Spring creek :i on'the
annexed plate, it is figured in company with the American Goldfinch
in autumnal plumage, for the sake .of comparison.
The Arkansaw Siskin is four inches and a quarter long; the bill
is yellowish, tipped with blackish; the feet are flesh colour; the
irides bumt-umber. The top of the head is blue-black; the cheeks
are dusky-olivaceous; the neck above and half its side, the back, and
rump, are olivaceous, more or less intermixed with dusky and yellowish,
particularly on the rump; the superior tail coverts are black,
varied with olivaceous: all the under parts, from the very base of
ARKANSAW SISKIN, 55
the bill to flslie under tail^dovertS inclusively, are of a pure bright
The w i ^ p ^ ‘ frowiiish-black, the smaller wing coverts
Ming veiyisligbfl^^gedbwith'blue, and edged with olivaceous; the
h e a te r wing; e^è|tfé*aÈe tipped with Uhite^bflireh forms a narrow
bandn^ossttijte wfijjjg; tlbWpn n/aW^^eeptjihg ,the exterior one, are
gligtólyted^èd^ f©Bfth,i fifth,-sixth, and seventh,
aré white' *fowards'|pe‘p $ se ,,^i a§fitb exhibit a whife£s|><iin beyond the
wing eB#hteÉ;hthe ^ s ^ u ^ ^ iitf aB i^ :^ le ?heRrlJ^tL^[ in, length, the
fifth is a-quarter of an inch sho^fejtMtief ^eebrnflaties/arfe- broadly
margmb^with vbiU-^Stnorlyï clfei'^ipk The tail sis
slightly emarginated, the,-feathèrs.b.eing ‘bladkisb, .slJghjrfy edged with
f«Mlwhitish!|y4he; three extdtior' bhes ^êiaS^feidety, -pure, white an'the
wddfes wdisbi •
,-ty‘p ,h*,Js|^éffiên'‘w b .ih ^ ^ jiis^ |^ |^Ê S èd is a male,.;evidently in
pbitebf plumage; ^^Snaifal'e^1 andrStk%fiif’imperfect plumage,, are
unknown; but, without risking anf^grehi^&éSfihSètfffdm the truth,
w'e may sfllte,' front* a&aïö’gy; that .t-hé ypung1f‘esemblè>'thé‘,MB^m;^
wMbh-miist b è destitute of the bïaclsêap, and. W^htfle»,colour's less
vivid and
The* Arkansaw Siskin Gertainl^i^SfcnbleS.'the American Goldfinch
in its winter dress ;?-but a still’ ixfote striking sinailarity'bMIfs’in' some
other birds,^snélSÊLs.,tbè;- EuiSfpëanjSiskin'(Fringittd spurns), and the
Olivarez * {Fringilla 'évhgtlfanica] Viefflv)|bfjSbhtbAbaefi;ca; and it -is so
similar to'the European, -fhéfHÏi might with a much greater degre'e of
prbpriety-be-c’ohsidèred; as a variètyqthanfjthhÉe regarded as such by
authors. ®hey? can, however, be easilytSi^tinguisbed by the following
comparative characters: all the under parts of the Arkansaw Siskin
are bright yilm^Whilst|TO^cÖril’lp ^m n g f parts' of the* European
Siskin are tinged with greenish, the ’ raroaf' bb®^ ofó'ck, and the
belly, flanks whitish,'shotted longitudinally with black;
the margins and spots of the wing and tail feathers are white in our
bird, and- yellow in the European Siskin; the white spots on the tail
of the Arkansaw Siskin are confined to the three outer feathers.