A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Plate CCCLXIV. Male, Female, and Young.

Bill excessively compressed, with the mandibles less curved. Male rich carmine, inclining to crimson; the feathers on the fore part and middle of the back dusky, excepting the tips; the scapulars, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail black; two broad bands of white on the wings, the anterior formed by the first row of small coverts, and several of those adjoining, the other by the secondary coverts, of which the basal half only is black. Female with the feathers of the upper parts dusky, edged with greyish-yellow, the rump wax-yellow; the wings and tail as in the male, but with the white bands of less breadth; lower parts yellowish-grey, streaked with dusky, the fore part of the breast wax-yellow. Young similar to the female, but with the lower parts dull yellowish-grey, spotted and streaked with dark brown.

Male, 6¹/₂, 10⁵/₈. Female, 6¹/₄, 10.

During winter, as far south as Maryland. Not uncommon in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where a few breed. Common in Maine, Nova Scotia, Labrador, and the Fur Countries. Migratory.

White-winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iv. p. 48.

Loxia leucoptera, Bonap. Syn. p. 117.

White-winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. ii. p.

Loxia leucoptera, White-winged Crossbill, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 263.

White-winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 540.

White-winged Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 467.

GENUS XIV. CORYDALINA, Aud. LARK-FINCH.

Bill of the same form as in the Guiraca, but smaller, and approaching to that of Dolichonyx, being short, robust, conical, a little compressed; upper mandible a little narrower, with the dorsal line very slightly convex, the ridge indistinct, the nasal sinus very broad and short, the sides convex, the edges ascending for a third of their length, then direct, the notches almost obsolete, the tip narrow; lower mandible with the angle short and very broad, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the back broad, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the tip pointed. Nostrils basal, roundish. Head large, ovate; neck short; body full. Feet of moderate length, stout; tarsus of ordinary length, compressed, with seven scutella; toes rather large, the first stouter, the lateral equal, the third very long. Claws rather long, arched, much compressed, laterally grooved, tapering to a very acute point. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles at the base of upper mandible feeble. Wings of moderate length, the outer three quills nearly equal, the second longest, the fourth slightly shorter than the third; outer secondaries broadly rounded and emarginate; inner tapering to a rounded point, one of them, when the wing is closed, little shorter than the outer primaries. Tail of moderate length, a little rounded. Name from [Greek: Korydalos], a lark.

202. 1. Corydalina bicolor, Towns. Prairie Lark-Finch.

Plate CCCXC. Fig. 2. Male. Fig. 3. Female.

Male black, slightly tinged with grey; a large patch of white on the wing, including some of the smaller coverts, the tips of the first row, and their secondary coverts; primaries and outer secondaries narrowly, inner secondaries broadly margined with white; tail-feathers narrowly edged with white, and having a narrow speck of the same at the end of the inner web. Female smaller, with the upper parts greyish-brown, streaked with dusky brown; the lower white, with oblong spots of brownish-black, the abdomen nearly pure white, their sides tinged with reddish-brown; quills dark brown, edged and tipped with reddish-white; the patch on the wing of the same tint; tail-feathers dark brown, the outer externally edged, and all tipped with white on the inner web.