A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Not figured.

Bill thick; second and third quills equal, first little shorter. Male with the upper part of the head black, the back and scapulars yellowish-green, faintly streaked with dusky, the rump inclining to greenish-yellow; the wings and tail black; the former, when extended, crossed by two bands, one greenish-yellow, tipping the first row of small coverts, the other bright yellow and broad at the base of the primary and secondary quills; tail also yellow in its basal third, except on the middle feather; lower parts greenish-yellow, feeding into white on the abdomen; feathers on the throat black at the base; lower tail-coverts yellow, tipped with white, and having a central dusky streak. Female dull yellowish-green above, faintly streaked with dusky, paler beneath.

In this species, which I have named in honour of the illustrious Earl of Derby, the bill is so thick and short as to approach in form to that of the European Greenfinch.

Male, 4⁹/₁₂, wing, 2¹⁰/₁₂.

Upper California.

GENUS IX. FRINGILLA, Linn. FINCH.

Bill short, stout, conical, somewhat compressed, pointed; upper mandible of the same breadth as the lower, with its dorsal line straight, the ridge indistinct, the sides rounded, the edges ascending at the base, the notches obsolete, the tip scarcely deflected; lower mandible with the angle very short and rounded, the dorsal line straight, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, ovate; neck short; body compact. Legs of moderate length; tarsus rather short, compressed, with seven scutella; toes moderate; hind toe stout, lateral equal. Claws rather long, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage rather compact, but blended. Wings of moderate length, with the second, third, and fourth quills longest. Tail of moderate length, slightly emarginate. Roof of upper mandible moderately concave, with three longitudinal ridges; tongue compressed, channelled above, horny, rather obtuse and concave at the end; œsophagus dilated about the middle; stomach roundish, muscular; intestine rather short; cœca small.

* Wings rather short, claws long, little arched.

186. 1. Fringilla iliaca, Merrem. Fox-coloured Finch.

Plate CVIII. Male and Female.