A Synopsis of the Birds of North America

by John James Audubon

Central Table-land of Rocky Mountains. Common. Migratory.

Black-headed Grosbeak, Fringilla melanocephala, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 519.

GENUS XVII. COCCOTHRAUSTES, Briss. GROSBEAK.

Bill of moderate length, extremely robust, almost as broad as the head, not compressed, conical, pointed; upper mandible rather broader than the lower, with the dorsal line slightly convex, the ridge indistinct, the nasal sinus extremely wide and short, the sides rounded, the edges simply arched and a little inflected, the notches almost obsolete, the tip a little deflected; lower mandible with the angle extremely short and wide, forming the fourth of a circle, the dorsal line straight, the sides at the base and in their whole length convex, the edges involute, the tip acute; nostrils basal, round. Plumage blended. Wings of moderate length, pointed, the outer three quills nearly equal, the second longest. Tail of moderate length, emarginate. Tarsus short, compressed, with seven scutella; toes moderate, hind toe stout, broad beneath; outer toe a little longer than the inner, and adherent at the base. Claws moderate, or rather stout, arched, compressed, acute. Upper mandible concave beneath, with three prominent lines.

207. 1. Coccothraustes vespertina, Cooper. Evening Grosbeak.

Plate CCCLXXIII. Fig. 1. Male.

Plate CCCCXXIV. Fig 5. Female. Fig. 6. Young Male.

Male with the upper part of the head and hind neck black, bounded anteriorly by a broadish band of bright yellow passing over the eyes; a narrow line of black margining the base of the bill; cheeks, lower part of hind neck, and throat, dark yellowish-olive, this colour gradually brightening on the body, until, on the outer edges of the scapulars, the rump, the axillars, lower wing-coverts, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts, it becomes pure yellow; smaller wing-coverts, alula, primary coverts, primaries, outer three secondaries, outer web of the next, and the bases of the inner secondaries black, as is the tail; six inner secondaries, and their coverts, the basal part excepted, black. Female with the upper parts brownish-grey, the head and cheeks darker, the lower parts pale grey, the throat white, with two longitudinal black bands; a band of greenish-yellow across the fore part of the back, axillars and lower wing-coverts light yellow; wings and tail, with their coverts, brownish-black, secondary coverts, and quills edged with yellowish-white, bases of some of the primaries, tips of the tail-coverts, and inner webs of all the tail-feathers at the end, white. Young male similar to the female, but without the black bands on the throat.

Male, 8, wing 4³/₄. Female, 7¹/₂, wing 4¹/₄.

Michigan. Columbia River. Saskatchewan. Common. Migratory.

Fringilla vespertina, Cooper, Ann. Lyc. New York, v. i. p. 220.

Evening Grosbeak, Fringilla vespertina, Bonap. Syn. p. 113.

Evening Grosbeak, Fringilla vespertina, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. ii. pl. 14.

Coccothraustes vespertina, Evening Grosbeak, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 269.

Evening Grosbeak, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 594.

Coccothraustes Bonapartii, Lesson, Young Male.

Evening Grosbeak, Fringilla vespertina, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 515; v. v. p. 235.