File:The genera of birds (18988809098).jpg

Order II. PASSERES.
Tribe IV. Conirostres.
Family IV. Fringillid^e.
The second Subfamily,
COCCOTHRAUSTIN/E, or Hawfinches,
have the Bill large, short, strong, conic, and very broad at the base ; the culmen and gonys more or less
equally curved to the tip ; the lateral margins more or less angulated at their base ; the Wings lengthened
and more or less pointed ; the Tail in general short ; the Tarsi as long as, or shorter than, the middle toe,
robust and strongly scaled ; and the hind Toe as long as, or rather shorter than, the inner one, and strong.
Spermospiza.*
Bill moderate, conic, rather lengthened ; upper mandible thicker than the lower, with the sides com-
pressed, the culmen advancing on the forehead and rounded, the lateral margins sinuated and slightly
angulated at the base ; the gonys lengthened and advancing upwards to the tip ; and the nostrils basal,
lateral, rounded, and partly concealed by the frontal plumes. Wings short, rounded, with the first quill
half the length of the second, the second to the sixth graduated, and the latter the longest. Tail length-
ened, and much rounded. Tarsi as long as the middle toe. Toes moderate, the lateral ones equal, the
hind toe longer than the inner one ; all armed with moderate, and curved claws.
The type is peculiar to Western Africa.
S. luematina (Vieill.) Ois. Chant, pi. 67. — Loxia guttata Vieill. Ois. Chant, pi. 68. ; Spennophaga cyanorhynchus Swains. Jard. and
Selby's 111. Orn. n. s. pi. 11.
Pyrenestes SxcainsA
Bill very large and strong, perfectly conic ; lower mandible rather thicker than the upper ; the culmen
straight or arched, advancing on the forehead, broad and flattened at the base, the sides compressed ; the
lateral margin straight, with an obsolete tooth at its base on each side ; the gonys of the lower mandible
lengthened, and advancing upwards to the tip ; the nostrils basal, lateral, rounded, and partly concealed
by the frontal plumes. Wings moderate, rounded, with the first quill very small, and the fourth and
fifth longest. Tail lengthened and rounded. Tarsi shorter than the middle toe, robust, and strongly
scaled. The Toes long and robust, the outer ones nearly equal, and the hind toe longer than the outer ;
all armed with long and curved claws.
They are inhabitants of the forests in the southern and western portions of Africa. Their food consists principally
of berries and other small fruits.
1. P. ostrina (Vieill.) Vieill. Ois. Chant, t. 48. — P. sanguinea 2. P. albifrons (Vigors), Proc. Z. S. 1831.92. — P. frontalis
Swains. \ Swains. A. Smith, 111. S. Afr. Zool. pi. 6l, 62.

• The original name of this division was Spennophaga, given by .Mr. Swainson (Class, of Birds, ii. p. 277-) in 1837 ; but which, having
  

been previously employed, was changed by me to the above in 1840.