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.