Volume I Part 2 (2/2)

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_C. alis subrotundatis, integris, virescenti-albidis, anticis supra fulvis, margine punctoque medio nigris, singulis subtus macula centrali ferruginea._ Encycl. Method.

(Male) wings slightly rounded, entire, greenish white; anterior pair above orange, at their tips, margin, and central dot black: each pair beneath with a central ferrugineous spot. Female ----?

C. Leachiana. _G.o.dart in Encycl. Method._ vol. ix. p. 91.

In size this insect is the largest of the genus yet discovered; it was first noticed by G.o.dart, who has given it the name of my learned and valued friend, Dr. W. E. Leach, of the British Museum, whose talents are too well known to need any eulogium in this place.

It appears to inhabit both the northern and southern extremities of Brazil; for I have seen it in a box sent from Para, and my specimens were captured in Minas Geraes by my friend Dr. Langsdorff. It is, however, a rare species; for I have only seen seven or eight specimens, and they were all males: the female, when found, will probably differ as remarkably as in most of this genus.

The opaque spot on the inferior wings above is very large; but the tuft of hair corresponding beneath the superior wings, is entirely wanting. It should be likewise observed, that although this insect in every outward respect resembles a genuine _Colias_ (the type of which may be _C. Ebule_), it differs very materially in the terminal appendages of the abdomen; the last joint being the shortest, and scarcely pointed; and the hook, instead of being concealed beneath this segment, is exserted beyond it, and met by two others, one at the base of each lateral valve: these valves are also much shorter, ovate, and not attenuated, although ending in an incurved hook. In the present ignorance in which a true knowledge of the Lepidoptera is involved, it is impossible to say how far these dissimilarities may point out natural groups; it is therefore of the highest importance to the science such facts should be noticed.

Pl. 7

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CARDUELIS cucullata.

_Hooded Seed-eater._

GENERIC CHARACTER.

_Rostrum breve, validum, conic.u.m, rectissimum; mandibulis subaequalibus; apice immarginato, recto, acuto; mandibula superiore culmine convexa; inferiore basi marginis angulata, utrinque subtusque convexa._

Typus Genericus _Fringilla Canaria_. Lath., &c.

Bill short, stout, very conic, without any curvature above; both mandibles nearly equal, the tip entire, straight and sharp; upper mandible convex above: lower one at the base of the margin with an obtuse angle, the sides and under part convex.

Generic Type _Fringilla Canaria_. Latham, &c.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_C. aurantia: capite, gutture, fascia trans tectrices, remigibus caudaque nigris; remigibus primoribus basi oblique aurantio fasciatis._

Orange: head, front of the neck, bar across the wing-covers, quills and tail black; greater quills at their base obliquely barred with orange.

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