740. Coccothraustes humii.
Hume's Hawfinch.
Coccothraustes vulgaris (Pall.), Hume, Ibis, 1869, p. 456; id. S. F. vii, p. 462; id. Cat. no. 728 bis; Barnes, S. F. ix, p. 456. Coccothraustes humii, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 97 ; id. Cat. B. M. xii, p. 40, pl. 1.
Coloration. Male. Feathers immediately next the bill, the lores, chin, and throat black; a narrow band next these black parts dull white; forehead, crown, nape, back, scapulars, and tertiaries tawny brown; a broad ashy collar on the hind neck and sides of neck; rump, upper tail-coverts, sides of the head, and the whole lower plumage a paler but clearer tawny brown ; middle of abdomen and the under tail-coverts white; tail black, the feathers with broad white tips, the middle pair frequently ashy for some distance in front of the white tip; lesser wing-coverts brown, tipped ashy; median coverts and the greater part of the outer webs of the greater coverts white; remainder of wing black, the primaries tipped with metallic blue, and each with a large white patch on the inner web; the later primaries and secondaries edged with metallic lilac or purple.
Female. Black parts of the head as in the male; remainder of head and neck ashy brown ; other parts of plumage as in male, but the tawny brown everywhere very pale and dull, the wings chiefly brown with some ashy on the outer webs.
Both sexes in winter have the black feathers of the chin and throat narrowly tipped with white. These margins soon wear away.
The young of this species are unknown, but in the European ally the nestling is brown above with black tips to the feathers; the head is suffused with yellow ; the lower plumage is white, each feather with a black terminal bar; the wings and tail resemble those of the adult.
Bill in winter whitish ; in summer blue; legs flesh-colour.
Length about 7 ; tail 2.5 ; wing 4; tarsus .85 ; bill from gape .85.
This species differs from C. vulgaris of Europe in having a lighter and less richly coloured head, a paler back, and the lower plumage tawny brown, not vinaceous.
Distribution. The only specimens of this species that 1 have seen were collected at Attock in the Punjab in February and March. There can be little doubt that the Hawfinch procured by Barnes at Chaman in Afghanistan belonged to this species. Of it he remarks that it is a common bird and resident.
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