Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
Do you need
volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?
|
|
Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
|
|
Click here and add this page to your favorites!
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FAT-FLA |
|
|
FINCH (Ger. Fink, Lat. Fringilla) , a name applied (but almost always in compositionas bullfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, hawfinch, &c.) to a great many small birds of the order Passeres, and now pretty generally accepted as that of a group or familythe Fringillidae of most ornithologists. Yet it is one the extent of which must be regarded as being uncertain. Many writers have included in it the buntings (Emberizidae), though these seem to be quite distinct, as well as the larks (Alaudidae), the tanagers (Tanagridae), and the weaver-birds (Ploceidae). Others have separated from it the crossbills, under the title of Loxiidae, but without due cause. The difficulty which at this time presents itself in regard to the limits of the Fringillidae arises from our ignorance of the anatomical features, especially those of the head, possessed by many exotic forms. Taken as a whole, the finches, concerning which no reasonable doubt can exist, are not only little birds with a hard bill, adapted in most cases for shelling and eating the various seeds that form the chief
But even with this limitation, the separation of the undoubted Fringillidae 1 into groups is a difficult task. Were we merely to consider the superf,pial character of the form of the bill, the genus Loxia (in its modern sense) would be easily divided not only from the other finches, but from all other birds. The birds of this genusthe crossbills-when their other characters are taken into account, prove to be intimately allied on the one hand to the grosbeaks (Pinicola) and on the other through the redpolls (Aegiothus) to the linnets (Linota)if indeed these two can be properly separated. The linnets, through the genus Leucosticte, lead to the mountain-finches (Montifringilla), and the redpolls through the siskins (Chrysomitris) to the goldfinches (Carduelis); and these last again to the hawfinches, one group of which (Coccothraustes) is apparently not far distant from the chaffinches (Fringilla proper), and the other (Hesperiphona) seems to be allied to the greenfinches (Ligurinus). Then there is the group of serins (Serinus), to which the canary
Of the Bullfinches the best known is the familiar bird (Pyrrhula 1 About 200 species of these have been described, and perhaps 150 may really exist. europaea). The varied plumage of the cockhis bright red breast and his grey back, set off by his coal-black head and quills --is naturally attractive; while the facility with which he is tamed, with his engaging disposition in confinement, makes him a popular cage-bird,--to say nothing of the fact (which in the opinion of so many adds to his charms) of his readily learning to " pipe " a tune, or some bars of one. By gardeners the bullfinch has long been regarded as a deadly enemy, from its undoubted destruction of the buds of fruit-trees in spring -time, though whether the destruction is really so much of a detriment is by no means so undoubted. Northern and eastern Europe is inhabited by a larger form (P. major), which differs in nothing but size and more vivid tints from that which is common in the British Isles and western Europe. A very distinct species (P. murina), remarkable for its' dull coloration, is peculiar to the Azores, and several others are found in Asia from the Himalayas to Japan. A bullfinch (P. cassini) has been discovered in Alaska, being the first recognition of this genus in the New World.The Canary
bright -hued examples we now see in captivity have been induced by carefully breeding from any chance varieties that have shown themselves; and not only the colour, but the build and stature of the bird have in this manner been greatly modified. The ingenuity of " the fancy," which might seem to have exhausted itself in the production of topknots, feathered feet, and so forth, has brought about a still further change from the original
ordinary " canary yellow " may be intensified so as to verge upon a more or less brilliant flame colour.'Very nearly resembling the canary, but smaller in size, is the Serin (Serinus hortulanus), a species which not long since was very local in Europe, and chiefly known to inhabit the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It has pushed its way towards the north, and has even been several times taken in England (Yarrell's Brit. Birds, ed. 4, ii. pp. 111-116). A closely allied species (S. canonicus) is peculiar to Palestine. The Chaffinches are regarded as the type-form of Fringillidae. The handsome and sprightly Fringilla coelebs 3 is common throughout the whole of Europe. Conspicuous by his variegated plumage, his peculiar call
' The earliest published description seems to be that of Gesner in 1555 (Orn. p. 234), but he had nbt seen the bird, an account of which was communicated to him by Raphael Seiler of Augsburg, under the name of Suckeruogele. 2 See also The Canary Book, by Robert L. Wallace; Canaries and Cage Birds, by W. A. Blackston; and Darwin's Animals and Plants under Domestication, vol. i. p. 295. An excellent monograph on the wild bird is that by Dr Carl Bolle (Journ. fur Orn., 1858, pp. 125-151). 3 This fanciful trivial name was given by Linnaeus on the sup-position (which later observations do not entirely confirm) that in Sweden the hens of the species migrated southward in autumn, leaving the cocks to lead a celibate life till spring . It is certain, however, that in some localities the sexes live apart during the winter.4 This call
pink
spink," not only gives the bird a name in many parts of Britain, but is also obviously the origin of the German Fink and the English ,Finch. The similar Celtic form Pine is said to have given rise to the Low Latih Pincio, and thence come the Italian Pincione, the Spanish Pinson, and the French Pinson. This is especially the case with F. teydea of the Canary Islands, which from its dark colouring and large size forms a kind of parallel to the Az erean Pyrrhula murina.species of true Fringilla is the brambling (F. montifringilla), which has its home in the birch forests of northern Europe and Asia, whence it yearly proceeds, often in flocks of thousands, to pass the winter in more southern countries. This bird is still more beautifully coloured than the chaffinchespecially in summer, when, the brown edges of the feathers being shed, it presents a rich combination of black, white and orange. Even in winter, however, its diversified plumage is sufficiently striking. With the exception of the single species of bullfinch already noticed as occurring in Alaska, all the above forms of finches are peculiar to the Palaearctic Region. (A. N.) End of Article: FINCH (Ger. Fink, Lat. Fringilla) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/FAT_FLA/FINCH_Ger_Fink_Lat_Fringilla_.html"> FINCH (Ger. Fink, Lat. Fringilla) </a> |
|
|
(Previous) FINCH |
(Next) FINCH OF FORDWICH, JOHN FINCH, BARON (1584-166o) |
|
Sponsored Advertisements