Fringilla maritima is a much larger bird than F. caudacuta; the bill is proportionally more elongated; instead of the broad yellowish-red band over the eye, it has a narrow and much shorter one of a duller tint; the band of the same colour beneath the eye is wanting, and the under parts are differently coloured and much duller. The third and fourth quills are longest in F. maritima, the second and third in F. caudacuta, while in the former the first is much shorter, and in the latter very little.
Another species of Finch, belonging to the same group, and which, like F. maritima and F. caudacuta, is found abundantly in the salt marshes of the Carolinas, has been discovered by my most worthy friend the Rev. John Bachman of Charleston, who has presented me with a dozen specimens of it. With his approval, I have named it after a gentleman who, besides being my friend, is possessed, not only of a technical, but also of a practical knowledge of ornithology, and of whom I may safely say, that he is unquestionably the best portrayer of the feathered race that I know. It was my intention to have had the figures of this newly discovered species, which were drawn at Charleston by my son John Woodhouse, engraved for the second volume of "The Birds of America;" but the drawing did not reach London in time. The plate, however, is finished, and will appear in the fourth and last volume of that work. In the mean time, I subjoin a brief description.
MACGILLIVRAY'S FINCH.
Fringilla Macgillivraii.
Bill rather long, in other respects similar to those of the two species mentioned above, as are the proportions of the different parts, and the texture of the plumage. The second, third, and fourth quills are equal and longest, and the tail is rounded.
Bill dusky-brown above, the sides of the upper mandible paler, the lower mandible bluish-grey. Iris hazel. Feet dark brown. The colouring is similar to that of F. maritima in the upper parts, and to that of F. caudacuta in the lower, but is darker above than the former, and duller beneath than the latter. Feathers of the head brownish-black margined with dull greyish-brown, but not grey in the middle nor darker towards the sides, as in the other species. Hind neck and back of the same colour, the middle of the latter having some of the margins pale reddish-brown. Primary quills hair-brown; secondary dark brown, edged with reddish-brown; the secondary and smaller coverts like the latter; the edge of the wing white, slightly tinged with yellow. Tail-feathers hair-brown at the edges, the centre blackish-brown, except the lateral, which are plain, but scarcely paler. A yellowish-brown streak from the nostrils over the eye. Throat and fore neck greyish-white, with an indistinct dusky streak on each side. Breast and sides pale dull yellowish-brown, marked with brownish-black streaks. The middle of the breast and the abdomen greyish-white, tinged with yellowish-brown.
Length 5½ inches, extent of wings 7¾; bill along the back 6½⁄12, along the edge 8⁄12; tarsus 11⁄12.
The different species can be readily distinguished by attending to the above particulars. Macgillivray's Finch is in size intermediate between the other two, and in colouring it resembles both, as has been stated above.