Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/199

FINCH 191 ings of the breast and wings are very faint ; the size is smaller. It is seen in Great Britain in large flocks in winter, with the chaffinch and allied species, disappearing toward the end of spring, going north to breed; it is hardy and bold, feeding on seeds and what it can 1. Mountain Finch (Fringilla montifringilla). 2. Green Finch (F. chloris). pick up in the open fields ; its flight is rapid and undulating; the note is like the "tweet" of the chaffinch repeated several times; ac- cording to Montague, it builds a nest in fir trees, and lays four or five yellowish spotted eggs. Albinos of this species are occasionally seen. It is said to be very fond of beech mast. The green finch (F. chloris, Linn.), also a European species, is about 6 in. long and 9 in extent of wings; the bill is very stout, the tail short, and the body bulky, which char- acters have led Mr. Gould to consider it' rather a grosbeak (coccothraustes) than a finch, and it no doubt is one of the intermediate forms be- tween this and fringilla. The male is bright olive green above, passing into yellow; the quills blackish gray, with outer webs bright gamboge yellow ; the tail, except the two mid- dle feathers, which are gray with light yellow margins, are yellow like the wings, with the external edges grayish brown ; below greenish, passing into sulphur yellow ; the bill is white, with a pink tinge ; the legs brown; the young are marked with oblong dashes of brown on the lower surface and the upper part of the back. This is an indigenous, non-migratory, hardy bird, living in flocks, familiar and docile ; it is often kept in confinement for its facility in imi- tating the notes of other birds ; its own song consists of three or four short mellow notes, which are very pleasing during the breeding season ; it is not particular in its choice of food, eating the usual grains and seeds given to caged birds. The eggs are four or five in num- ber, pale bluish white, speckled at the larger end with reddish brown. The pine finch (F. 320 VOL. vii. 13 pinus, Wils. ; chrysomitris, Boie), distributed over North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is 4f- in. long, with an extent of wings of 8|- in. The plumage is soft, but with little gloss; the short, conical, acute bill is light yellowish brown, with a dusky tip; the iris brown; general color above yellowish gray, with dark brown streaks ; the wings and tail dusky, with grayish white edges; the base of the secondaries, the tips of their coverts, and the margins of the rump feathers are cream- colored ; grayish white below, with streaks of dull brown, and a brown tinge on the fore neck; the female very closely resembles the male. This species, though seen in the south- ern states, prefers the northern regions of the country and the Canadas, wherever pine trees abound ; it is most common in the north during winter, where it is seen in small flocks with the redpoll and the crossbill ; the favorite food is found amid the branches of the highest fir trees, where they hang head downward like the titmouse ; the seeds of the thistle and of the sweetgum are also much eaten by them.. Though he could find no nests, Audubon met with great numbers of these birds accompanied by their young on the coast of Labrador toward the end of July ; and they doubtless breed there. The mode of flight and notes resemble those of the goldfinch ; like the latter, it sweeps through the air in long graceful curves, uttering its sweet and clear song as it takes a fresh start. The genus passer (Briss.) includes the sparrows of the old world r which are rarely called finches. The American sparrows are contained in the genus zonotricMa (Swains.) ; many of these are popularly called finches; the bill is perfectly conical, the wings moderate, the tail long,, broad, and nearly even at the end. The grass finch (Z. graminea, Gmel. ; genus podcoetes, Baird) is 5f in. long, with an extent of wing of 10 in. ; the general color above is a light brown, streaked and mottled with darker; a narrow circle of white around the eye ; throat and breast yellowish white, the latter streaked with dark brown ; the larger coverts and the quills deep brown, the former edged with paler, and the first of the latter with white external margin ; lesser coverts bay ; tail deep brown, marked and margined with white; sides and abdomen pale yellowish brown, the former streaked with darker ; under tail coverts white. It is distributed far to the north and over the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and there- is a variety, or perhaps a species, to the west of the Alleghanies; it seems to prefer sandy and barren soils in cul- tivated districts ; its song is sweet and protract- ed; it is shy and solitary, and runs nimbly through the grass, in which the nest is built ; the eggs, four to six in number, are laid about the middle of April at the south, where two broods are generally raised each year; they are seven eighths of an inch long, bluish white, with reddish brown blotches; the food con- sists of various kinds of seeds and insects, and