_Hesperiphona_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424. (Type,
_Fringilla vespertina_.)
[Line drawing: 16770, _Hesperiphona vespertina_.
18597, _Coccothraustes vulgaris_.]
GEN. CHAR. Bill largest and stoutest of all the United States
fringilline birds. Upper mandible much vaulted; culmen nearly
straight, but arched towards the tip; commissure concave. Lower jaw
very large, but not broader than the upper, nor extending back, as in
_Guiraca_; considerably lower than the upper jaw. Gonys unusually
long. Feet short; tarsus less than the middle toe; lateral toes nearly
equal, and reaching to the base of the middle claw. Claws much curved,
stout, and compressed. Wings very long and pointed, reaching beyond
the middle of the tail. Primaries much longer than the nearly equal
secondaries and tertials; outer two quills longest; the others rapidly
graduated. Tail slightly forked; scarcely more than two thirds the
length of the wings, its coverts covering nearly three fourths of its
extent. Nest and eggs unknown.
This genus is allied to the European _Coccothraustes_, but differs in
wanting the curious expansion of the inner secondaries, as shown in
Fig. 18,597. Species are said to occur in Asia, but we have only two
in America,—one peculiar to Mexico (_H. abeillii_), the other _H.
vespertina_.