Genus XIV.--Corydalina, Aud. Lark-Finch.

Birds of America

By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.

VOLUME III.

GENUS XIV.--CORYDALINA, Aud. LARK-FINCH.

Bill of the same form as in the Guiraca, but smaller, and approaching to that of Dolichonyx, being short, robust, conical, a little compressed; upper mandible a little narrower, with the dorsal line very slightly convex, the ridge indistinct, the nasal sinus very broad and short, the sides convex, the edges ascending for a third of their length, then direct, the notches almost obsolete, the tip narrow; lower mandible with the angle short and very broad, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the back broad, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the tip pointed. Nostrils basal, roundish. Head large, ovate; neck short; body full. Feet of moderate length, stout; tarsus of ordinary length, compressed, with seven scutella; toes rather large, the first stouter, the lateral equal, the third very long. Claws rather long, arched, much compressed, laterally grooved, tapering to a very acute point. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles at the base of upper mandible feeble. Wings of moderate length, the outer three quills nearly equal, the second longest, the fourth slightly shorter than the third; outer secondaries broadly rounded and emarginate; inner tapering to a rounded point, one of them, when the wing is closed, little shorter than the outer primaries. Tail of moderate length, a little rounded. Name from [Koxydalos], a lark.