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wings black, edged with light blue, and becoming brownish
towards the tips; lesser coverts light blue; greater black,
broadly skirted with the same blue; tail black, exteriorly
edged with blue; bill black above, whitish below, somewhat
larger in proportion than Finches of the same size usually are,
but less than those of the genus Emberiza, with which Pen-
nant has classed it, though I think improperly, as the bird has
much more of the form and manners of the genus Fringilla,
where I must be permitted to place it; legs and feet blackish
brown. The female is of a light flaxen colour, with the wings
dusky black, and the cheeks, breast, and whole lower parts a
clay colour, with streaks of a darker colour under the wings,
and tinged in several places with bluish. Towards fall the male
while moulting becomes nearly of the colour of the female, and
in one which I kept through the winter, the rich plumage did
not return for more than two months; though I doubt not had
the bird enjoyed his liberty and natural f od under a warm sun
this brownness would have been of shorter duration. The usual
food of this species is insects and various kinds of seeds.
26-:1
INDIGO BIRD.