Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (21)

In the spring of 1869, Mr. Jillson, of Hudson, Mass., sent me a pair of these birds which he had captured the preceding autumn. They were very tame, and were exceedingly interesting little pets. Their movements in the cage were like those of caged parrots in every respect, except that they were far more easy and rapid. They clung to the sides and upper wires of the cage with their feet, hung down from them, and seemed to enjoy the practice of walking with their head downward. They were in full song, and both the male and the female were quite good singers. Their songs were irregular and varied, but sweet and musical. They ate almost every kind of food, but were especially eager for slices of raw apples. An occasional larch cone was also a great treat to them. Although while they lived they were continually bickering over their food, yet when the female was accidentally choked by a bit of eggshell her mate was inconsolable, ceased to sing, refused his food, and died of grief in a very few days.

The White-winged Crossbill was seen more frequently by Mr. Ridgway among the East Humboldt Mountains than the other species. It was first noticed on the 12th of August among the cedars on the mountains. Its fine plaintive cry of “_wēēk_” was entirely different from the hurriedly uttered notes of the _C. americana_.

Several specimens of this Crossbill have been taken in Europe, where their occurrence is of course accidental, irregular, and rare.

A nest of this species (S. I., 13,452), taken at Fredericton, New Brunswick, by Dr. A. Adams, in 1868, is deeply saucer-shaped, and composed of a rather thin wall of fibrous pale-green lichens, encased on the outside with spruce twigs, and thinly lined with coarse hairs and fine shreds of inner bark. Its external diameter is a little less than four inches, the rim being almost perfectly circular; the cavity is an inch and a half deep by two and a half broad.

The one egg is pale blue, the large end rather thickly spattered with fine dots of black and ashy-lilac; is regularly or rather slightly elongate-oval, the small end rather obtuse. It measures .80 of an inch in length by .56 in breadth.

GENUS ÆGIOTHUS, CABAN.

_Acanthis_, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, not of Bechstein, 1802, nor of
Keys. & Blas. 1840.
_Ægiothus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161. (Type, _Fringilla linaria_,
LINN.)—COUES, Pr. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1861, 373; 1863, 40; 1869,
180.

[Line drawing: Ægiothus linarius.
39364 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Bill very short, conical, acutely pointed, the outlines sometimes concave; the commissure straight; the base of the upper mandible and the nostrils concealed by stiff, appressed bristly feathers; middle of the mandible having several ridges parallel with the culmen. Inner lateral toe rather the longer, its claw reaching the middle of the middle claw; the hind toe rather longer, its claw longer than the digital portion. Wings very long, reaching the middle of the tail; second quill a little longer than the first and third. Tail deeply forked.

Difficult as it sometimes is to define with precision the characters of closely allied species of birds, there are few genera where this is the case more strikingly than in _Ægiothus_. Leaving out of view the peculiar European species, it has been a mooted question whether North America, including Greenland, possesses one, two, or six species, owing to the strictly boreal distribution of these birds, and the fact that their summer resorts are seldom invaded by the naturalist. The necessary means of determining the proper distribution of the forms and the variations with season, locality, and sex, are scarcely to be met with in any public museum, that of the Smithsonian Institution, however, being the most complete in this respect.

To Dr. Coues, as quoted above, we owe the most satisfactory indications of the different species and varieties, his papers in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences (1861, 375; 1863, 40; and 1869, 180) being models of ornithological criticism and discussion. His labors have enabled us to define with precision the various forms, both European and American, found in the genus, and have brought us to satisfactory conclusions in reference to their limitations.

Mr. Ridgway has lately made a careful revision of the specimens of _Ægiothus_ in the Smithsonian collection, and with a general concurrence in the conclusions of Dr. Coues in regard to the differences observable, he suggests, as an application of the laws more recently verified by him and myself in our examination of the North American land-birds, that we may best consider the actual species to be two in number, namely, _canescens_ and _linarius_, ranging the other forms under these, either as geographical races or as seasonal stages. Bearing in mind the general law that the more boreal or Greenland-born specimens should be larger than the more southern or Continental, and that the peculiar dark plumage of _fuscescens_ and _rostratus_ only occurs in summer breeding specimens, he considers these as identical with _linarius_ and _holbölli_; the winter plumages respectively of the same two races of one species, _linarius_; the latter race, _holbölli_, being the larger or Greenland form. If _fuscescens_ be darker than summer _linarius_ from Europe, it is simply another instance of the darker tints of Arctic American birds as compared with European.

_Ægiothus canescens_ and _exilipes_ Mr. Ridgway considers as the Greenland (larger) and Continental (smaller) races of one species, which perhaps do not differ so much with season as do those of _linarius_. The differences in the size and proportions of bill, and perhaps of feet, Mr. Ridgway does not think of much importance, as great variations are observable in this respect in specimens from the same locality, and the actual differences of the bill are obscured by the greater length of the bristly feathers around its base in winter, making it appear considerably shorter. Indeed, Professor Alfred Newton maintains that the same bird will have the bill considerably longer in summer, after living on soft insect food, and shorter in winter when worn down by use on hard seeds. Mr. Ridgway finds, too, that specimens of _linarius_ from Kodiak differ in a much longer and more slender bill than usual, in this respect resembling Alaska specimens of several other _Fringillidæ_.

The following synopsis expresses Mr. Ridgway’s views as indicated above: a critical examination of a series of more than two hundred specimens, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, being the basis of his conclusions.—S. F. B.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Adult._ Above streaked with dusky upon a brownish, or brown and whitish, ground; wing-coverts tipped with whitish or pale brown. Beneath whitish, streaked on the sides with dusky. An indistinct, lighter superciliary stripe. _Male._ Rump tinged with rose-pink. _Female._ Rump not tinged with pinkish. _Juv._ Without any red, and with the whole lower parts thickly streaked.

A. Crown with a quadrate patch of crimson, in adult; throat and chin with a dusky spot; quills and tail-feathers not edged conspicuously with white. ♂ with the breast tinged with red.

1. A. canescens. Rump unstreaked white (both sexes, at all
seasons); the lower tail-coverts with white shafts; the red
tinge on the breast in the ♂, of a delicate pale rosaceous pink
tint.

Bill very short and thick, its height through the base nearly
equalling the length of the culmen. Wing, 3.20; tail, 2.65.
Bill: culmen, .35; height, .30. _Hab._ Greenland …
var. _canescens_.

Bill much smaller, more acute, its height through the base
much less than the length of the culmen. Wing, 3.00; tail,
2.50. Bill: culmen, .30; height, .22. _Hab._ Continental
arctic America … var. _exilipes_.

2. A. linarius. Rump always streaked; lower tail-coverts with
dusky shaft-streaks; the red tinge on the breast of the ♂ of a
rosaceous-carmine tint.

Bill about .35 in length by .22 in height; wing, 2.80; tail,
2.40. _Hab._ Continental arctic and cold temperate North
America … var. _linarius_.

Bill about .40, or more, in length, by .30 in height; wing,
3.20; tail, 2.60. _Hab._ Greenland in summer, and Continental
arctic and cold temperate North America in winter …
var. _holbölli_.

B. Crown without any red; throat and chin without any dusky spot; quills and tail-feathers of adult male edged conspicuously with white. ♂ without red tinge on the breast.

3. A. flavirostris. Rump rose-pink in the ♂, brown streaked
with dusky in ♀. No red on crown or breast.

♀. Above umber-brown streaked with dusky; ground-color of
rump light brown; throat and jugulum strongly
ochraceous-buff. _Hab._ Europe … var. _flavirostris_.

♀. Above olive-brown streaked with dusky; ground-color of
rump sulphur-yellow; throat and jugulum faintly
sulphur-yellow, tinged with buff. _Hab._ North America …
var. _brewsteri_.

Ægiothus linarius, CABANIS.

LESSER RED-POLL.

_Fringilla linaria_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 322.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
IV, 1838, 538, pl. ccclxxv. _Fringilla (Acanthis) linaria_,
KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europ. 1840, No. 115, page 161.—_Acanthis
linaria_, BP. Conspectus, 1850, 541. _Ægiothus linaria_,
CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
428.—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. Nov. 1861, 382.—COOPER & SUCKLEY,
198.—SAMUELS, 294.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. 1870, 110.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Acad. I, 1869, 281.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
159. _Linaria minor_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 267.—AUD.
Syn. 1839, 114.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 122, pl. clxxix. ?
_Linaria holbölli_, BREHM, Vögel Deutschlands. _Acanthis
holbölli_, BP. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 50, pl. liii.
_Ægiothus holbölli_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1861, 385. _Linaria
americana_, MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 338. _Ægiothus
fuscescens_, COUES, P. A. N. S. Aug. 1861, 222 (Labrador;
breeding dress).—IB. p. 380. _Ægiothus rostratus_, ELLIOT,
Illust. B. Am. I, pl. ix.—COUES, P. A. N. S. Nov. 1861, 378
(Greenland).—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, pl. x.

I. _Spring and Winter Plumage._

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Ground-color of the occiput, nape, scapulars, and interscapulars, brownish-white, each feather with medial streak of dusky-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with the streaks in sharper contrast. Wings clear brownish-dusky with two conspicuous white bands, formed by tips of middle and secondary coverts; tertials broadly, and secondaries narrowly, edged with white; tail-feathers narrowly edged with white, this broader on inner webs. A narrow frontal band (tinged with brownish), an obscure superciliary stripe, and the lower parts in general, white; sides streaked with dusky, and lower tail-coverts each with a medial streak of the same. On the forehead and vertex a somewhat quadrate patch of intense carmine. Nasal plumuli, lores, and a small, somewhat quadrate, gular spot, dark silky-brown. Bill yellow, the culmen and gonys black.

♂. Throat, jugulum, and breast, rosaceous-carmine (extending upward over the maxillæ, and backward over the sides almost to the flanks); rump tinged with the same.

Var. _linarius_ (21,577, Philadelphia). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.35; bill, .35 and .22; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .30.

Var. _holbölli_ (39,263, Quebec). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40; bill, .42 and .29; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .37.

Var. _holbölli?_ (52,457, Kodiak). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40; bill, .47 and .25; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .35.

♀. No red except on the crown, where its tint is less intense; dusky gular spot larger, extending farther on to the throat.

Var. _linarius_ (902, Penn.). Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.30; bill, .32 and .23; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .32.

Var. _holbölli_ (39,362, Quebec). Wing, 3.10; tail, 2.50; bill, .42 and .29; tarsus, .61; middle toe, .39.

Var _holbölli?_ (52,460, Kodiak). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30; bill .39 and .23;. tarsus, .54; middle toe, .32.

II. _Summer or Breeding Plumage._

The pattern the same as above, but the dark tint intensified and spread so as to almost entirely obliterate any lighter markings, except the streaks on the rump; the wing-bands as well as the dorsal streaks obsolete; streaks on the sides broader; frontal band dusky like the occiput. Red tints slightly intensified. Bill wholly dusky.

♂. Throat, jugulum, breast, and tinge on sides and rump, rosy-carmine.

Var. _linarius_ (type of “_fuscescens_”). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30; bill, .36 and .25; tarsus, .53; middle toe, .33.

Var. _holbölli_ (type of “_rostratus_”). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.35; bill, .41 and .30; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .40.

Var. _holbölli?_ (54,477, Kodiak, July). Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.20; bill, .40 and .25; tarsus, .56; middle toe, .32.

♀. No red except on the crown.

Var. _linarius_ (♀ type of “_fuscescens_”). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30; bill, .35 and .25; tarsus, .52; middle toe, .34.

_Young_ (first plumage). (54,478, Kodiak, July.) Streaks covering whole head, neck, and breast; no red (RIDGWAY).

HAB. Circumpolar regions. In North America breeding in the sub-arctic regions, and in winter descending into the northern United States.

The two races of _Æ. linarius_ are quite differently colored in summer and in winter. In the latter season the plumage is softer and more lax, and the markings better defined, though in autumn with a considerable ochraceous suffusion. In spring the colors are purer, and the markings most sharply defined; in the breeding-season the plumage assumes a burnt appearance, the dark tints intensify and spread, so that sometimes the upper parts appear almost uniformly dusky; the bill appears larger, in consequence of the less development of its basal tufts, than in winter. In this dusky summer condition these birds form the _Æ. fuscescens_ and _Æ. rostratus_ of Coues, the latter being the summer plumage of var. _holbölli_, the former that of var. _linarius_. In the series of over two hundred examples examined, all midsummer specimens are in the plumage of _fuscescens_ or _rostratus_, while the latter is not seen in any autumnal, winter, or spring birds.

Specimens of the var. _holbölli_ have been received from Quebec, collected by Mr. W. Couper.

HABITS. Accepting as variations due either to locality, latitude, or season the differences already referred to in the plumage of this species, it is not necessary to consider the question of races in connection with our story of their habits. We possess but very little information as to their peculiarities as races in these respects. Treating, then, the Lesser Red-Poll, though appearing in four differing phases, as one species, we claim it to be common to the northern portions of both hemispheres.

It is found throughout northern North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is abundant in the boreal regions of Europe, and probably of Asia also. On the Pacific coast, Dr. Cooper has observed it only as far south as Washington Territory. Farther north it is much more abundant. Mr. Bannister found it common at St. Michaels, both in summer and in winter. At Nulato Mr. Dall found this species very common in winter, and very little less so in summer. He states that the nest is usually lined with hair, and covered externally with moss, dry grass, and like materials, built in bushes, near the ground. They begin to build the 15th of May. The eggs are laid about the 1st of June, and the young are flying near the end of July. The young of the first year are dark, with a small patch of brown on the breast. After their second year the males increase the amount of rose-color on the head and breast, and the very old birds are quite brilliant in the breeding-season. At St. Michaels, where there are no trees and very few bushes; these birds frequently build their nests in the grass.

Mr. Dall states that this bird has no song, but that their cheerful twittering and chirping, their fearless and sociable ways, their bright plumage and elegant nests, are quite enough to make them general favorites.

Richardson found this neat and hardy little bird one of the few permanent residents of the fur countries, where it was seen, in the coldest weather, on the banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among the reeds or clinging to their stalks.

Mr. Lord found this species a rare bird in British Columbia. It was found in swampy places, where the alders grew thickly, and where there were large water-plants. To these it clings, pecking at their seed-pods, or, searching the remaining flowers, feeds upon any insects they may contain. Their song he describes as a soft and pretty warble, coming in bursts, the singer perching himself boldly on the top of a plant, as if to be more plainly heard by his companions. In early spring they feed on the catkins of the alder and hazel. They winter in small flocks in Vancouver’s Island.

Holböll states that this species is found irregularly distributed over Greenland, coming always in the first half of April, a little later than the Snow-Bunting. It migrates to Greenland from America, and is much rarer in Iceland. In June it is found nesting near the shore, and, contrary to the usual nature of birds, is very wild, though at all times else it is very fearless. At this time the male loses its beautiful crimson breast, resembles the female, and is much less gorgeous than in winter. It nests in birches, alders, or willows, and lays five bluish-white eggs, spotted with clear brown. Towards the end of August and in September they are seen in small flocks about the settlements, the male resuming its red breast, and all, both old and young, being very fearless. In confinement they soon became very tame, and in a few days would perch upon his hand and struggle with each other for the hemp-seed that he held to them, though there was plenty of food in their cage. They feed on seeds and the tops of lichens. By October they all disappear, and are not seen in Greenland in the winter.

Wilson states that, in his day, these birds were very common in Northwestern New York, where they appeared always with the first deep snow, and were, on that account, called Snow-Birds. In severe winters they were occasionally, though very rarely, seen in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, where they were very fond of the seeds of the common alder, and hung head downwards while feeding, in the manner of our Goldfinch. They were very unsuspicious, and permitted a near approach without manifesting any signs of alarm. Mr. Ord, in a subsequent edition of Wilson, states that these birds rarely visit Philadelphia, and that it was many years before he could procure specimens. In the winter of 1813-14 they appeared in a flock of nearly a hundred, and were so intent in feeding upon the seeds of the _Atriplex hastata_ that they could be closely approached. Their call exactly resembled that of the Goldfinch. These birds lingered in that neighborhood until about the middle of April.

Their migration southward in winter is evidently caused more by want of food than by the state of the temperature. They remain in high northern regions in the most inclement weather, and often appear among us in seasons not remarkably cold, and remain until late in the spring. In 1833, by the 7th of November, the weather still being quite mild, Nuttall states, they appeared in Massachusetts in considerable flocks. They regularly assembled in the birch-trees every morning to feed on the seeds, and were so intent on their employment that it was often possible to approach the slender trees on which they were feeding, and strike them off, before they would take wing. They hung on the twigs with great tenacity, and moved about in reversed positions, in the manner of the Chickadees. They are described by him as having a quailing call, similar to that of the Goldfinch, and when crowding together, in flight, as making a confused chirping, with a rattling noise, and moving off with a simultaneous twitter. They were attracted to the pines by the Crossbills, and were busily employed in collecting the seeds, dropped from the cones as the Crossbills opened them. They at times fed on the buds of fruit-trees. They were always found to be fat, even on their first arrival, and there were no obvious reasons for their movements.

Mr. Boardman speaks of them as common at Calais by the first of the winter. At Norway, Me., Professor Verrill found them very common in fall, winter, and spring, and most abundant in March and April. In Springfield they are, according to Mr. Allen, an irregular and occasional visitant, coming in very large flocks one year, and again not seen for several years. In a more recent paper (1870) Mr. Allen states that during the preceding five years these birds have been several times very numerous in Massachusetts, appearing in quite large flocks.

Mr. Audubon met with these birds in Labrador the last of July, and obtained specimens of different ages. He thinks their notes more like those of the Siskin of Europe than of our Goldfinch, uttered both when the birds are on the wing and when they have alighted. They were in small parties of seven or eight, evidently members of the same family. They were tame and familiar, and fearlessly returned to the same spot after having been shot at. They were also remarkably affectionate, and he frequently observed them passing seeds one to the other in the most loving manner.

Dr. Coues also observed this bird in Labrador, and described it as _Æ. fuscescens_. He found it abundant along the coast, and was struck with its resemblance, in habits, to the _Chrysomitris tristis_. It was remarkably unsuspicious and familiar, and showed no signs of fear even when very closely approached. It frequented, almost exclusively, the scrubby junipers that grow everywhere in open places in thick impenetrable patches. He describes its flight as irregular, rising and falling in curves, and seldom protracted to any great distance. While passing overhead, it uttered a peculiar rattling chirp. He thinks it has no song.

Dr. Kirtland informs me that early in the winter of 1868 his grandson picked up a wing-broken male Red-Poll, and placed it in his greenhouse. It began at once to feed on crumbs of bread and hay-seed, and rapidly recovered. It soon acquired the habit of leaping from shelf to shelf, among the plants, and was finally seen climbing up some stately _Pelargonium_ shrubs, and suspending itself, parrot-like, by its feet from the limbs, capturing aphides. From that time it took no other food, living exclusively on the parasitic insects of the plants. So active was it in capturing these, that for two months it was not necessary to fumigate the greenhouse to destroy them. From day to day a female Red-Poll hovered over the building, and her calls were responded to by the invalid. Later in the season he escaped from his confinement, and was seen to rejoin his faithful mate, which had remained near him all the winter. As in Europe, this species in the Arctic regions of America has been found nesting in low trees and bushes, from two to six feet from the ground.

The habits and appearance of the birds observed in Europe appear identical with those of our own. Mr. Yarrell states that of all birds these are the most easily tamed, and can be readily made to breed in confinement. In Scotland and in parts of England it is resident throughout the year, in the summer retiring to the bases of the mountains, and there breeding in the underwood that skirts the banks of the mountain streams. It nests in bushes or low trees, such as the alder and the willow. These are constructed of mosses and the stems of dry grasses, intermingled with down from the catkins of the willow, and lined with the same, making them soft and warm. The young are produced late in the season, and are seldom able to fly before the first of July. The parent birds are devoted in their attachment. Pennant relates that in one instance where this bird was sitting on four eggs, she was so tenacious of her nest as to suffer him to take her off with his hand, and after having been released she still refused to leave it. In the winter they descend to the lower grounds, and there feed on the buds of the birch and alder, to reach which they are obliged, like the Titmice, to hang from the ends of the branches, with their backs downward. So intent are they on their work that they are easily taken alive by means of a long stick smeared with birdlime. Mr. Selby states that its notes during the breeding-season, though not delivered in a continuous song, are sweet and pleasing. Captain Scoresby relates that in his approach to Spitsbergen several of these birds alighted on his ship. They were so wearied with their long journey as to be easily caught by the hand. The distance of the nearest point of Norway renders it difficult to imagine how so delicate a bird can perform this journey, or why it should seek such a cold and barren country. European eggs are five in number, of a pale bluish-green, spotted with orange-brown, principally about the larger end. They measure .65 by .50 of an inch.

American eggs of this species average .65 by .53 of an inch. Their color is a light bluish-white, which varies considerably in the depth of its shading, and this tinge is exceedingly fugitive, it being difficult to preserve it even in a cabinet. The eggs are generally and finely dotted with a rusty-brown, and are of a rather rounded oval shape.

Ægiothus canescens, CABANIS.

MEALY RED-POLL.

_Linaria canescens_, GOULD, “Birds Europe, pl. cxciii.” _Linota
canescens_, BONAP. List, 1838. _Acanthis canescens_, BON.
Conspectus, 1850, 541.—BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 47,
tab. li.—ROSS, Ed. Phil. Jour. 1861, 163. _Ægiothus canescens_,
CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
429.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 388.—SAMUELS, 295. “_Fringilla
borealis_, TEMMINCK, 1835. Not of Vieillot.” Bonaparte. _?
Fringilla borealis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 87, pl. cccc. _?
Linaria borealis_, AUD. Birds Am. III, 1841, 120, pl. clxxviii.
“_Linaria hornemanni_, HOLBÖLL, Kroyer Nat. Tidskr. 1843.”
_Ægiothus exilipes_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Nov. 1861, 385.—ELLIOT,
Illust. N. Am. Birds, I, pl. ix.

SP. CHAR. _Autumnal female._ Greenland race (_canescens_). (23,377, Greenland, Univ. Zoöl. Mus. Copenhagen.) In general appearance like the corresponding plumage of _Æ. linarius_, but the whole rump immaculate white; frontal band more than twice as wide as in _linarius_, and better defined; lower tail-coverts without streaks, their shafts even being white. Carmine vertical patch only a little wider than the whitish frontal patch; head with a strong ochraceous suffusion. Wing, 3.30; tail, 2.90; bill, .35 and .30; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .32. Wing-formula, 1, 2, and 3.

HAB. Greenland. Variations with season probably as in smaller Continental race.

_Adult of both sexes in spring._ Continental race (_exilipes_). As described for the Greenland form, but without the ochraceous suffusion. Sides very sparsely streaked.

_Male in spring._ Breast only tinged with delicate peach-blossom-pink, _this extending farther back medially than laterally_,—just the reverse of _Æ. linarius_; a very faint tinge of the same in the white of the rump. Measurements (No. 19,686, Fort Simpson, April 30, 1860; B. R. ROSS, COUES’S type): Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.55; bill, .29 and .25; tarsus, .52; middle toe, .30; wing-formula, 2, 1, 3, 4.

_Female in spring._ Similar, but lacking all red except that of the pileum, which is less intense, though not more restricted, than in the male. Measurements (No. 19,700, Fort Simpson, April 28; B. R. ROSS): Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.35; bill, .25 and .22; tarsus, .51; middle toe, .30.

_Both sexes in autumn._ (♀, Fort Rae.) The white of the whole plumage, except on the rump, overspread by a wash of pale ochraceous, this deepest anteriorly; on the anterior upper parts a deep tint of ochraceous entirely replacing the white; wing-markings broader and more ochraceous than in the spring plumage. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50; bill, .30 and .25; tarsus, .51; middle toe, .30.

HAB. Continental arctic America. In winter south into the United States (as far as Mount Carroll, Illinois).

Though _Æ. canescens_ is nearly identical with _Æ. linarius_ in size, these two species may always be distinguished from each other by certain well-marked and constant differences in coloration; the principal of these have been mentioned in the synoptical table, but a few other points may be noted here. In spring males of _canescens_ the delicate rosaceous-pink of the breast does not extend up on to the cheeks, and backward it extends farther medially than laterally, scarcely tingeing the sides at all; while in _Æ. linarius_ the intensely rosaceous, almost carmine, tint covers the cheeks, and extends backward much farther laterally than medially, covering nearly the whole sides.

Though the weakness, or shortness, of the toes compared with the tarsus, is a feature distinguishing, upon almost microscopical comparison, the _Æ. canescens_ in its two races from the races of _Æ. linarius_, it will not by any means serve to distinguish _canescens_ and _exilipes_, since, as will be seen by the measurements given, the proportion of the toes to the tarsus is a specific, and not a race, character. (RIDGWAY.)

HABITS. The history of the Mealy Red-Poll can only be presented with some doubts and uncertainties. We cannot always determine how far the accounts given by others may have belonged to this species, and we can only accept, with some reserve, their statements.

This form, whether species or race, is known to inhabit Greenland, where, according to Dr. Reinhardt, it is constantly resident, and I have received its eggs from that country, where its identification was apparently complete. Whether this bird is resident in, regularly migratory to, or only accidental in, Europe, is as yet a question by no means fully settled. Degland gives it as resident in Greenland only, and as accidental in Germany, Belgium, and the north of France. He states that it is known to nest in shrubs and in low trees, and that, in all essential respects, its manners are identical with the common Red-Poll. One of these birds was taken alive in a snare in the vicinity of Abbeville, and kept in a cage, making part of the collection of M. Baillon.

Yarrell thought that sufficient evidence existed of its specific distinctness, but Mr. Gould regarded it as a matter of doubt whether the birds found in Europe were natives, or only arrivals from northern America. He states that among the London dealers this bird, called by them the Stone Red-Poll, is well known, and is considered distinct, but that its occurrence is very rare. Occasionally, at great intervals, they are said to have been abundant.

Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, procured several specimens of this bird in Colchester, in January, 1836, and afterwards obtained a living pair, which he kept for some time. Their notes were much sharper than those of the _linarius_. Its occurrence was most frequent in winter, many specimens having been obtained in England, and some also in Scotland. Its habits throughout the year are supposed to be very similar to those of the common Red-Poll. Its food is said to be chiefly the seeds of various forest trees.

Mr. Temminck describes what is undoubtedly this species, under the title of _borealis_. If this supposition be admitted to be correct, its geographical distribution becomes much more clearly defined. He states that it is found during the summer in Norway and Sweden, and is resident of the Arctic Circle throughout the year, and is also found in Northern Asia, as well as in America and in other parts of Europe. He has received specimens from Greenland, and also from Japan, differing in no respect from those found in Europe.

Audubon states that he procured four specimens of this bird in Newfoundland. In their habits he could see no difference between them and the common Red-Poll, but did observe a noticeable difference in their song. He also states that one was shot by Mr. Edward Harris near Moorestown, N. J.

Mr. John Wolley, in his expeditions to Lapland, found there only one species of this genus which was clearly referrible to the Mealy Red-Poll, and was a common resident bird. One of these eggs from Lapland is larger, and a much lighter-colored egg, than any of the common _linarius_. The ground is a greenish-white, sparingly spotted with dark reddish-brown about the larger end. Its measurement is .80 by .58 of an inch. An egg from Greenland is not perceptibly different in size, color, or markings.

Holböll, in his papers on the fauna of Greenland, demonstrates very distinctly the specific differences between this bird and the _linarius_. These are its stronger and broader bill, the difference in colors at every age, its much greater size, its very different notes, and its quite different modes of life, the _canescens_ being a strictly resident species, and the _linarius_ being migratory.

In the summer this species is found to the extreme north of Greenland, and has never been known to nest farther south than the 69th parallel. It is more numerous in North Greenland than the _linarius_, which is rare at the extreme north, while this is very common even at latitude 73°. This bird builds its nests in bushes in the same manner with _linarius_, and its eggs closely resemble those of that bird. Its notes, he adds, do not at all resemble those of the Red-Poll, but are like those of the _Ampelis garrulus_.

It is a resident of Greenland throughout the year, and in the winter keeps on the mountains in the interior, but is much more numerous at latitude 66° than farther south. In February, 1826, Holböll saw many flocks on the mountains between Ritenbank and Omanak, and in the journey taken in 1830 by a merchant from Holsteinborg into the interior of the country a great many flocks were observed. They are also frequently met with by reindeer-hunters, who go far into the interior. It is rarely found in South Greenland at any time, and never in the summer. In mild winters they sometimes come about the settlements, as happened in the winter of 1828-29, and again in 1837-38. In the intervening winters it was not seen at Godhaab, and in severe winters it is never to be found near the coast, only single specimens occurring there in spring and autumn.

Mr. MacFarlane thinks this species spends the winter at Fort Anderson, as he has met with it as late as December and as early as February, and believes it to have been present in the vicinity in the interval. It nests in May. Mr. Harriott found one of its nests on the branch of a tree, about five feet from the ground. It contained five eggs.

The egg of this species resembles that of the _linarius_ except in size and its lighter ground-color. The ground is a bluish or greenish white, dotted with a tawny-brown. The egg is of a more oval shape, and measures .75 by .60 of an inch.

Ægiothus flavirostris,[112] var. brewsteri, RIDGWAY.

BREWSTER’S LINNET.

SP. CHAR. General appearance somewhat that of _Æ. linarius_, but no red on the crown, and the sides and rump tinged with sulphur-yellow; no black gular spot. ♀ _ad._ Ground-color above light umber, becoming sulphur-yellow on the rump, each feather, even on the crown, with a distinct medial streak of dusky. Beneath white, tinged with fulvous-yellow anteriorly and along the sides; sides and crissum streaked with dusky. Wings and tail dusky; the former with two pale fulvous bands; the secondaries, primaries, and tail-feathers narrowly skirted with whitish sulphur-yellow. A dusky loral spot, and a rather distinct lighter superciliary stripe. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.50; tarsus, .50; middle toe, .30. Wing-formula, 1, 2, 3, etc.

HAB. Massachusetts.

As the present article on _Ægiothus_ is going to press, we have received, through the kindness of Dr. Brewer, a specimen of what appears to be a third species of _Ægiothus_, allied to the _Æ. flavirostris_ of Europe, obtained in Waltham, Mass., by Mr. William Brewster, of Cambridge. This bird was killed in a flock of _Æ. linarius_, of which five were also shot at the same discharge. None of the others, nor indeed of any of ninety specimens prepared by Mr. Brewster during the winter, were at all like the present one, which is entirely different from anything we have ever seen from North America.

The relationship of this bird appears to be nearest to the _Æ. flavirostris_ of Europe, with the ♀ of which it agrees in many respects, as distinguished from _linarius_ and _canescens_. The European bird, however, lacks the sulphur-yellow tinge (which gives it somewhat the appearance of _Chrysomitris pinus_), has the throat and jugulum strongly reddish-buff, instead of dingy yellowish-white, and is much browner above; besides which the tail is longer and less deeply forked, with narrower feathers.

HABITS. Nothing distinctive was observed by Mr. Brewster in regard to the habits of the specimen killed by him.

GENUS LEUCOSTICTE, SWAINSON.

_Leucosticte_, SWAINSON, Fauna Bor. Am. II, 1831, 265. (Type,
_Linaria tephrocotis_, SW.)

[Line drawing: _Leucosticte tephrocotis._
19255 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, rounded, rather blunt at the tip; the culmen slightly convex; the commissure slightly concave; the nostrils and base of commissure concealed by depressed bristly feathers; a depressed ridge extending about parallel with the culmen above the middle of the bill. Another more conspicuously angulated one extending forward from the lower posterior angle of the side of the lower mandible, nearly parallel with the gonys. Tarsus about equal to the middle toe and claw. Inner toe almost the longer, its claw not reaching beyond the base of the middle one. Hind toe rather longer, its claw longer than the digital portion. Wings very long; first quill longest; all the primaries longer than the secondaries. Tail forked.

This genus differs from _Ægiothus_ in the more obtuse and curved bill, the less development of bristly feathers at the base, the ridge on the lower mandible, the lateral toe not reaching beyond the base of the middle one, and possibly a longer hind toe. Its relationship to the other allies will be found expressed in the synoptical table of _Coccothraustinæ._

The number of American species, or at least races, of this genus has been increased considerably since the publication of Birds of North America, five now belonging to the American fauna, instead of the three there mentioned. Of the species usually assigned to the genus, one, _L. arctoa_, is quite different in form, lacking the ridge of the mandible, etc., and in having the ends of the secondaries graduated in the closed wing, instead of being all on the same line. The colors, too, are normally different; in _arctoa_ being dusky, with silvery-gray wings and tail, without rose tips to the feathers of the posterior part of body; and in _Leucosticte_ proper, the wings and tail being dark-brown narrowly edged with whitish, or more broadly, like the ends of the feathers of the body behind, with rose-color. For the present, however, we shall combine the species, not having before us any American specimens of _L. arctoa_.

From the regular gradation of each form into the other—the extremes being thus connected by an unbroken chain of intermediate forms—it seems reasonable to consider all the North American forms as referable to one species (_L. tephrocotis_, SW., 1831) as geographical races. They may be distinguished as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Body anteriorly chocolate-brown; posteriorly tinged with rose-red. Wing-coverts (broadly) and quills edged with the same. Head above light ashy or silvery-gray, as are also the feathers around the base of upper mandible; the forehead and a patch on crown blackish. Throat dusky.

_Additional Characters._ The chocolate-colored feathers and the secondary quills, sometimes the tail-feathers and greater wing-coverts, edged with pale brownish-white or fulvous; the interscapulars with darker centres. Rose of rump and upper tail-coverts in form of transverse bands at end of feathers, that of abdomen more a continuous wash. Lining of wings and axillars white, tinged with rose at ends of feathers. Feathers of crissum dark brown, edged with whitish, sometimes tinged with rose. Bill generally reddish or yellowish, with blackish tip.

A. Auriculars chocolate-brown.

1. Whole side of head below the eye, including the
auriculars, chocolate-brown. Chin not bordered anteriorly
with ash. In the breeding-season, head darker and ash
wanting. Wing, 4.35; tail, 3.00; bill, .44; tarsus, .72. Hab.
Interior regions of North America … var. _tephrocotis_.

2. Cheeks, lores, and anterior border of the chin ash-color.
Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.80; bill, .44; tarsus, .70. Hab. Colorado
and Wyoming Territories … var. _campestris_.

B. Auriculars ash-color.

3. Wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00; bill, .40; tarsus (?). Chocolate
of the breast, etc., light, exactly as in tephrocotis; rose
beneath restricted to the abdomen; lores and chin light ash.
Hab. Northwest coast from Kodiak to Fort Simpson, east to
Wyoming Territory … var. _littoralis_.

4. Wing, 4.60; tail, 3.40; bill, .40; tarsus, .78. Chocolate
very dark, inclining to sepia; rose extending forward on to
the breast; lores blackish; chin dusky gray. Hab. Aleutian
Islands (St. George’s, Unalaschka, and Kodiak) …
var. _griseinucha_.

A closely allied species[113] from Kamtschatka and the Kurile Island differs mainly in having the nasal feathers as well as the head blackish, but without distinct patch on the top, and the nape rusty, in contrast with the back. It is about the size of _L. tephrocotis_. This species may yet be detected in the westernmost Aleutians.

Leucosticte tephrocotis,[114] SWAINSON.

GRAY-CROWNED FINCH.

_Linaria (Leucosticte) tephrocotis_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 255,
pl. 1. _Leucosticte tephrocotis_, SW. Birds II, 1837.—Bon. Consp.
1850, 536.—BAIRD, Stansbury’s Salt Lake, 1852, 317.—IB. Birds N.
Am. 1858, 430.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 164. _Erythrospiza
tephrocotis_, Bon. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III,
1841, 176, pl. cxcviii. _Fringilla tephrocotis_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
V. 1839, 232, pl. ccccxxiv.

SP. CHAR. (No. 19,255.) _Male in winter._ General color dark chocolate-brown or umber, lighter and more chestnut below; the feathers to a considerable degree with paler edges (most evident in immature specimens), those of back with darker centres. Nasal bristly feathers, and those along base of maxilla, and the hind head to nape ash-gray, this color forming a square patch on top of head, and not extending below level of eyes. A frontal blackish patch extending from base of bill (excepting the bristly feathers immediately adjacent to it), and reaching somewhat beyond the line of the eyes, with convex outline behind, and extending less distinctly on the loral region. Chin and throat darker chestnut, not grayish anteriorly. Body behind dusky; the feathers of abdomen and flanks washed, and of crissum, rump, and upper tail-coverts tipped, with rose-red; wing-coverts, and to some extent quills, edged with the same; otherwise with white. Bill yellowish, with dusky tip; feet black. Length before skinning, 6.50; extent, 11.50. Skin: Length, 6.50; wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00.

_Young._ Pattern of coloration as in the adult of _L. tephrocotis_; ash similarly restricted, but with the black frontal patch badly defined. The brown of the plumage, however, is of an entirely different shade from that of adult specimens of _tephrocotis_, being of a blackish-sepia cast, much darker, even, than in _griseinucha_; each feather also broadly bordered terminally with paler, these borders being whitish on the throat and breast, brownish on the nape and back, and light rose (broadly) on the scapulars. The whole abdomen, flanks, and crissum are nearly continuously peach-blossom pink, which, with that of the lesser and middle wing-coverts and rump, is of a finer and brighter tint than in adults. The other edgings to wings are pale ochraceous; under side of wing pure white. Bill dull yellow, dusky toward tip. Wing, 4.20; tail, 3.80. (60,638, Uintah Mountains, Utah, September 20, 1870; DR. F. V. HAYDEN.)

The young specimen described was obtained during the summer of 1871 in the Uintah Mountains; and were it not unmistakably a bird of the year, it would be considered almost a distinct species, so different is it from adult specimens of _tephrocotis_.

HABITS. Of the history and habits of this well-marked and strikingly peculiar bird, but little is known. It was first described by Swainson from a single specimen, obtained on the Saskatchewan Plains, in May, by Dr. Richardson’s party. Specimens were afterwards procured in Captain Stansbury’s expedition, near Salt Lake City, Utah, in March, 1850. Dr. Hayden found them very abundant on the Laramie Plains during the winter season, and Mr. Pearsall obtained numbers about Fort Benton. Dr. Cooper has also seen one specimen brought from somewhere east of Lake Tahoe, in Washoe, by Mr. F. Gruber. They were said to be plentiful there in the cold winter of 1861-62. Dr. Cooper thinks it probable that they visit the similar country east of the northern Sierra Nevada, in California.

A single flock of what is presumed to have been this species was seen by Mr. Ridgway, on the 5th of January, in the outskirts of Virginia City, Nevada. The flock was flitting restlessly over the snow in the manner of the _Plectrophanes_.

Nothing has been ascertained, so far as we are now informed, as to its nest, eggs, or general distribution during the breeding-season.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that he met with a flock of these rare and beautiful birds on the summit of the Cascade Mountains. It was late in October, and he observed a flock of nine or ten birds pecking along the ground, and feeding somewhat in the manner of Larks. Puzzled to know what birds they could be at such an altitude so late in the year, he fired among them and secured three, a female and two males in fine plumage. (Perhaps var. _littoralis_.)

In July of the following summer, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains, near the Kootanie Pass, he again saw these birds feeding on the ground. He shot several, but they were all young birds of the year. It is therefore rendered probable that these Finches breed on the Cascade and Rocky Mountains, in both at about the same altitude, or seven thousand feet, coming into the lowlands during the winter, as it is not likely that they could endure the cold of the summits, or find there a sufficiency of food, the winter being very severe, and the snow three feet, or more in depth.

Mr. Charles N. Holden, a promising young ornithologist of Chicago, who observed these birds among the Black Hills, near Sherman, at an altitude of eight thousand feet above the sea, has furnished me with interesting observations in regard to them. He informs me that he did not meet with these birds there in summer. They came in small flocks in the coldest part of winter. Their food consisted of small seeds and insects. In some instances he found the crops so distended with seeds as to distort their shape. They become very fat, and are excellent eating. In one specimen, a young male, the plumage was almost black, as described at the beginning of this article. These birds were quite numerous, and nearly forty specimens were secured. He was not able to learn anything in reference to their breeding-places. Except by dissection, he found it difficult to distinguish between a young male of the first year and a female.

If the specimen referred to in the foot-note at the beginning of this article as collected by Mr. Allen on Mount Lincoln be really this species, an important advance in its history will have been reached, showing that their summers are spent in the high mountain summits, and that the rest of the year is passed lower down on the plains.

Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. campestris, BAIRD.

THE GRAY-CHEEKED FINCH.

_Leucosticte campestris_, BAIRD, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 163, 1870.

SP. CHAR. Body light chocolate-brown, the feathers edged with paler, those of the back with rather darker centres. Feathers of anal region, flanks behind, crissum, rump, and upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts, and primary quills, edged with rose-red; secondary quills and tail-feathers with pale fulvous; little or no trace of rose on under wings. Forehead and patch on crown blackish; the hind head to nape, cheeks immediately under the eye (but not including the auriculars, except, perhaps, the most anterior) and base of lower mandible all round, ashy-gray. Throat dusky. Bill yellowish, with dusky tip. Legs dusky.

No. 41,527, near Denver City, Col., January, 1862 (DR. C. WERNIGK). Length, 7.00; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.00; exposed portion of first primary, 3.10. Bill from forehead, .60; from nostril, .40; tarsus, .75; middle toe and claw, .80; claw alone .24; hind toe and claw, .80; claw alone, .37.

HAB. Colorado Territory (DR. WERNIGK); Wyoming Territory (MR. H. R. DURKEE).

This form bears a close resemblance to _L. tephrocotis_, and may, indeed, be a variety of it; but as it differs in the characters that appear generally to be those most constant in _Leucosticte_, and as, in fifty skins of the _tephrocotis_ from one locality, we have seen nothing like it, we are inclined to consider them distinct. The size and general appearance are much the same, the difference being that in _tephrocotis_ the whole cheeks are chocolate below the level of the eye, the chin without any gray; while in _campestris_ the sides of head below the eye, but not including the ears, with a narrow border of the chin, are of this color.

From _littoralis_ this form may be distinguished by the less extent of ash on the cheeks, which in _littoralis_ covers the whole ears, and extends back farther on the head all round. _L. griseinucha_ is marked like _littoralis_, and is much larger than either. Possibly it may be well to entertain the idea of its being a hybrid between _tephrocotis_ and _littoralis_ or _griseinucha_.

The specimen described was presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Dr. Wernigk, and at the time was supposed to be _L. tephrocotis_.

Of this form, nothing as to its habits is known with certainty. It probably does not differ in any important respect from the allied races.

Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. littoralis, BAIRD.

HEPBURN’S FINCH.

_Leucosticte griseinucha_, ELLIOT, Illust. Birds Am. X. _Leucosticte
littoralis_, BAIRD, Tr. Ch. A. S. I, 1869, 318, pl. xxviii, f.
1.—DALL & BANNISTER, IB. p. 282.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 162.

SP. CHAR. Body chocolate-brown, the feathers narrowly margined with paler, those of the back with rather darker centres. Abdomen, flanks, crissum, rump, upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts, and quills edged with rose-red, more or less continuous (least so on the rump); the outer edges of secondaries and tail-feathers pale fulvous, the latter with a rosy shade. Head silvery-gray; the forehead and patch on crown black; the chin gray, continuous with that of cheek; the throat dark brown, shading into the chocolate of breast. Bill yellowish, the extreme tip dusky. Nasal feathers white. Length, 7.10; wing. 4.30; tail, 3.10; exposed portion of first primary, 3.40. Length of bill from forehead, .60; from nostril, .35. Tarsus, .76.

HAB. Kodiak (BISCHOFF); Sitka (BISCHOFF); Fort Simpson, British Columbia (HEPBURN); Gilmer, Wyoming (DURKEE).

This race, which we believe to be the Southern coast representative of _griseinucha_, bears much resemblance to that bird, but is considerably smaller; the colors are brighter and lighter, more like those of _tephrocotis_, and the bill is shorter and more conical, the dark patch on the head more restricted, the chin more ashy, and the brown of the head not so far forward. From _tephrocotis_ it is distinguished by the extension of the ash of head below the eye; and from _campestris_ by having the ear-coverts ashy, instead of the anterior portion of the cheeks only; and there is apparently a greater extent of gray on the chin.

Specimens obtained at Kodiak in February are distinguishable from specimens of _griseinucha_, obtained with them at the same place, only by their much smaller size, and lighter chocolate tints. The occurrence of both these races at the same place, at the same time, is a subject for speculation. A perfectly typical specimen (No. 59,906) is in the collection from Gilmer, Wyoming Territory, obtained by Mr. H. R. Durkee, a frequent contributor to the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, and sent by him along with numerous specimens of _L. tephrocotis_, with which it appears to have been mixed.

Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. griseinucha, BAIRD.

THE GRAY-EARED FINCH.

_Passer arctous_, var. γ, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-asiat. II (1831), 23.
_Fringilla (Linaria) griseinucha_, BRANDT, Bull. Acad. St.
Petersburg, Nov. 1841, 36. _Montifringilla (Leucosticte)
griseinucha_, BON. & SCHL. Mon. Loxiens (1850), 35, pl. xli.
_Leucosticte griseinucha_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 430.—KITTLITZ,
Denkwürdigkeiten (1858), I, 291.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. Sc.
I, 1869, 282.—BAIRD, IB. p. 317, pl. xxviii, f. 2.—ELLIOT, Illust.
Am. B. pl. xi.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 161. _Leucosticte griseigenys_,
GOULD, Voy. Sulphur.

SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 54,246: General color dark brownish-chocolate anteriorly, the feathers of back rather darker in the centre, and with paler edges. Forehead and crown black; rest of the head, including the cheeks and ears, of a rather silvery gray; throat blackish, shading off insensibly into the chocolate of breast. Feathers of abdomen (and hinder part of breast to a less degree), flanks and crissum, with the rump and upper tail-coverts, and lesser and middle wing-coverts, tipped with dark pomegranate or rose-red, allowing more or less of thin dusky bases to be seen, especially above, where there is an appearance of bars. Wing and tail feathers brown, nearly all, including the greater wing-coverts, edged with pale yellowish-gray with only a faint tinge of rose. Bill dusky; darkest at tip. Legs black.

Dimensions: Total length, 7.50; wing, 4.80; tail, 3.50. Exposed portion of first primary, 3.50. Bill, from forehead, .69; from nostril, .42. Legs: tarsus, .95; middle toe and claw, .92; claw alone, .35; hind toe and claw, .69; claw alone, .38.

HAB. Aleutian Islands (St. George’s and Unalaschka).