. Natural history. Zoology. FINCHES—B UNTINGS. 363 From these families which lie on the borderland of the finches, we pass to the family Fringillidce. The latter family is one of the largest in the whole series of the Passeriformes. It is almost universal The Finclies. in its distribution, and comprises three sub-families: the gros- Family beaks (Goccothraustince), the true iinches {FringiUince), and Fringillidce. the buntings (Fmheriziiice). In these birds, of which our common hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraiistes) is the type, the bill is large and swollen, and the nasal bones are produce
. Natural history. Zoology. FINCHES—B UNTINGS. 363 From these families which lie on the borderland of the finches, we pass to the family Fringillidce. The latter family is one of the largest in the whole series of the Passeriformes. It is almost universal The Finclies. in its distribution, and comprises three sub-families: the gros- Family beaks (Goccothraustince), the true iinches {FringiUince), and Fringillidce. the buntings (Fmheriziiice). In these birds, of which our common hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraiistes) is the type, the bill is large and swollen, and the nasal bones are produced backwards beyond the front line of the bony orbit. There are no less than twenty-three genera of grosbeaks, and they The Grosbeaks, are represented in nearly every quarter of the globe. The —Sub-family northern forms are Coccothraustes in the Old World, and Coccothrauslince. Ligurinus, of which our common greenfinch (Liguriims chloris) is the type. In North America Hedymeles is the prevailing form, while in the Himalayas we ha\'e Mycerobas and Pycnorhamphiis. The smaller grosbeaks are principally neo-tropical, and are represented by the genera Spermophila, and in the Galapagos Islands by Geospiza and Gamarhynrlms. The cardinal grosbeaks {Oirditialis) are inhabitants of the Southern United States as far as British Honduras in Central America, and species of the genus are also found in Venezuela and Trinidad. This family embraces all the best known of the finches. The type may be said to be our common chaffinch {Fringillct, ccelebs), but all the linnets, siskins, goldfinches, and other familiar birds are part and parcel of this sub-family. The bill is less massive than in the gros- The Finches.— beaks, and the upper mandible is not produced backwards Sub-family beyond the front line of the orbit ; Fringillinai. otherwise the angle of the genys is much the same as in the grosbeaks. The finches constitute a very numerous sub-family, and many beautiful birds are embraced wit
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