Length to end of tail 6 1/2 inches, to end of wings 5 3/4, to end of claws 6 1/4; extent of wings 10 3/4.
The young when fledged resemble the female; the males being, however, distinguishable from the females by their brighter tints.
The young male in autumn, after the first, moult, has the lower parts of a much brighter yellow, the upper of a lighter green, but with all the feathers having a central black mark, those on the head oblong, on the middle of the back broad, on the rump linear. The wing-coverts are black; the quills and tail-feathers brownish-black, margined with yellowish-green.
Two males in my possession, shot by Dr Trudeau, are remarkable for having the first row of small coverts scarlet, forming a conspicuous band amidst the black of the wing, and the lower wing-coverts tipped and margined with the same. In all other respects, however, these individuals agree with the others.
An adult male examined. The roof of the mouth is concave, with a median prominent ridge and two more prominent lateral ridges, between which and the edges is a broad groove for the reception of the lower mandible. The tongue is 6 twelfths long, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, flat above, with a median groove, the tip horny and pointed, but terminated by several flattened bristles or shreds Œsophagus, a b c, 2 1/2 inches long, its diameter 4 1/2 twelfths, until its entrance into the thorax, when it contracts a little. Proventriculus, b c, 1/2 inch long, and 3 1/2 twelfths in diameter. The stomach, c d e, is a strong gizzard, 8 twelfths long, 7 twelfths in breadth, its lateral muscles moderately thick; the epithelium rugous and dark reddish-brown. Intestine, f g h, 7 1/2 inches long, its average diameter 2 1/2 twelfths, its narrowest part 2 twelfths. The rectum i j, 10 twelfths long; the cœca, i, 3/4 of a twelfth long, and 1/2 twelfth in diameter.
The trachea is 2 inches long, its diameter 1 1/2 twelfths, and nearly uniform; the rings about 60. The contractor and sterno-tracheal muscles are slender; and there are four pairs of inferior laryngeal.
In a female the intestine is 7 1/4 inches long.
The contents of the stomach in both were remains of insects and seeds.
The digestive organs of this bird, and probably of all the Tanagers of the same group, are thus not essentially different from those of the Passerine tribe, including Finches, Buntings, &c. The œsophagus has a more elongated dilatation than in most of the species of that tribe, of which, however, the Corn Bunting of Europe is very similar in this respect.