for here they find, by scratching in the cindery soil with their powerful beaks and
claws, the seeds of grasses and other plants, which rapidly spring up during the
short rainy season, and as rapidly disappear. They often eat small portions of
the succulent leaves of the Opuntia Galapageia, probably for the sake of the
moisture contained in them : in this dry climate the birds suffer much from the
want of water, and these finches, as well as others, daily crowd round the small
and scanty wells, which are found on some of the islands. I seldom, however,
saw these birds in the upper and damp region, which supports a thriving vegetation
; excepting on the cleared and cultivated fields near the houses in Charles
Island, where, as I was informed by the colonists, they do much injury by digging
up roots and seeds from a depth of even six inches.
1. Geospiza MAGNIROSTRIS. Gould.
P l a t e XXXVI.
G. fuliginosa, crisso cinerascenii-alho ; rostro nigro-lrunnescente lavato ; pedibus
7iigris.
Long. tot. e unc. ; ala-, : caudæ, 2 ; tarsi, 1 : rostri, ^ ; alt. rost. 1.
Foem. vel Mas jun.; corpore intensé fusco singulis plumis oliváceo cinctis ; abdomme
pallidiore; crisso cinerascenti-ulbo ; pedibus el rostro, ut in mare arlulto.
Sooty black ; with the vent cinereous wliite, the hill black, washed with brownish,
and tbe feet black.
Female, or young male : Deep fuscous, with each feather margined with olive, the
abdomen mucli paler, with tlie under tail-coverts cinereous white, the feet
and hill like those of the male.
Habitat, Galapagos Arcliipelago. (Charles and Cliatham Islands.)
I have strong reasons for believing this species is not found in James’s
Island. Mr. Gould considers the G. magnirostris as the type of the genus.
2 . G e o s p iz a s t r e n u a . Goidd.
P l a t e XXXVII.
G. fuliginosa, crisso alho, rostro fusco et nigro tincto ; pedibus nigris.
Long. tot. 51 unc. ; ala-, 3 ; caudæ, i f ; tarsi, f ; rostri, | ; alt. rost. f.
Foem. Summo corpore fusco singulis plumis alarum caudoeque plumis exceptis, pallidè
ciuerascenti-olivaceo cinctis ; guld et pectore fuscis ; abdomine lateribus et crisso
pallide cinerascenti-fuscis; rostro brunnescente.
Sooty black, with the under tail coverts white ; the bill brown, tinged with black,
and the feet black.
Female : Upper part of the body fuscous, with the margins of each feather,
except those of the wings and tail, pale cinereous-olive ; the throat and breast