Savannah Finch, Fringilla Savanna, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 72. Pl. 34. fig. 4, Male; and vol. iii. p. 55. Pl. 22. fig. 3, Female.—Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 489.
Adult Male. Plate CIX. Fig. 1.
Bill short, conical, acute; upper mandible straight in its dorsal outline, rounded on the sides, as is the lower, which has the edges sharp and inflected; the gap line straight, not extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, concealed by the feathers. Head rather large. Neck short. Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus longer than the middle toe, covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, compressed, acute, slightly arched; that of the hind toe a little larger.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings shortish, curved, rounded, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail short, emarginate.
Bill pale-brown beneath, dusky above. Iris brown. Feet light flesh-colour. Cheeks and space over the eye light citron-yellow. The general colour of the plumage above is pale reddish-brown, spotted with brownish-black, the edges of the feathers being of the former colour. The lower parts are white, the breast marked with small deep brown spots, the sides with long streaks of the same.
Length 5½ inches; extent of wings 8½; bill along the ridge 5⁄12, along the gap 6⁄12; tarsus 10⁄12.
Adult Female. Plate CIX. Fig. 2.
The Female resembles the Male, the tints of the plumage being merely a little lighter.
Length 5½ inches; extent of wings 8½.