This Finch is common on the western slopes of the Andes as far north as Peru; it is also found in the Mendoza district and throughout Patagonia. It is very abundant on the Rio Negro, especially in the immediate neighbourhood of the Carmen settlements, for, like the Chingolo and other fringilline species, it is beneficially affected by cultivation. Though not possessing any bright tints, it is a very charming bird, tuneful, elegant in form, graceful and buoyant in its motions. When approached it utters a series of low ticking sounds, and at intervals a peculiar long squealing note. The song of the male is very agreeable, and curiously resembles that of the Cachila Pipit (_Anthus correndera_). It usually sits on a twig near the ground, and at intervals soars up to a height of ten or twenty yards, and utters its song while gliding slowly downwards with depressed wings and outspread tail. It sings throughout the year; in bright weather its notes are heard all day long, but on cold, cloudy, or wet days only after sunset. In the warm season they live in pairs, and in the autumn unite in flocks of as many as two or three hundred individuals, and have a strong undulating flight. 71. PHRYGILUS CARBONARIUS (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (BLACKISH FINCH.) +Phrygilus carbonarius+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 487; _Döring, Expl. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 38. _Description._--Above grey, with brownish-black stripes; wings dusky brown; tail-feathers black; below black, with minute grey marks on the throat and bosom; sides dull grey: total length 5·5 inches, wing 2·9, tail 2·2. _Hab._ Bolivia, Argentina, and Patagonia. This species is said to be about one third less than _Phrygilus fruticeti_ in size, but to resemble it closely in colour. Dr. Döring found it abundant in Patagonia between the rivers Colorado and Negro, where it was seen during the cold season in flocks, associating with _Zonotrichia canicapilla_. Burmeister met with it in the Sierra de Uspallata, near Mendoza. 72. GUBERNATRIX CRISTATELLA (Vieill.). (YELLOW CARDINAL.) +Gubernatrix cristatella+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 482 (Paraná); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 31; _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 38 (Cordova); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 130 (Concepcion, Entrerios). _Description._--Above light olive-green, the back marked with a few black stripes; four middle tail-feathers black, edged with olive, all the rest of the tail-feathers bright yellow, tipped with dull olive; broad superciliaries and lower part of the head bright yellow; crown, crest, and throat velvet-black, the black extending to the chest; beneath yellow, washed with olive-green on the breast and sides; bill and feet black: total length 8·0 inches, wing 3·8, tail 3·7. _Female_ less brightly coloured; white on the head where the male is yellow; breast grey. _Hab._ Paraguay and Argentine Republic.