REVIEW OF THE AMERICAN CROSSBILLS. 103 



purplish cast, much like a dilute tint of "Ruben's madder," the 

 middle of the belly and the anal region fading into white. These 

 specimens are Nos. 94,877 and 94,887, from Fort Klamath, Oregon, 

 December n, 1882, (Capt. Bendire, coll.), and resemble so closely 

 two adult males from northern Japan (Nos. 91,432 and 91,433, Tate- 

 Yama, P. L. Jouy, coll.), as to be distinguished only with great diffi 

 culty.. Taking, however, No. 94,877, in which the resemblance to 

 the Japanese birds is closest, and comparing with both the latter, 

 the following differences are observable : The upper parts are de 

 cidedly darker, the pileum in the Japanese specimens being of the 

 same pale purplish red as the color of the breast, while the brighter 

 color of the rump corresponds closely to that of the flanks. In 

 the Fort Klamath specimen, on the other hand, the pileum is much 

 darker than the breast (being nearly the same color as the back), 

 while the red of the rump is very much more intense than that on 

 the flanks. 



Three females from Japan are, however, practically indistinguish 

 able from as many of the same sex from eastern Oregon (Fort 

 Klamath, December, 1882, Capt. Bendire). In fact, were it not 

 for the difference of habitat, these female Japanese Crossbills might 

 well be regarded as identical with the larger North American form.* 



*The Japanese Crossbill has been referred to L. albiventris Swinhoe, but the 

 description (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1870, p. 437) indicates a bird " like in color 

 to Z. curvirostra^ but differing from all the known species in having the abdo 

 men and under tail-coverts white, the latter with large central arrow-head brown 

 spots. Under quills, whitish. Length 6 inches ; wing 3| ; tail 2 ; tip of wing 

 to end of tail, 6. Iris brown ; bill brown, light horn-color along the tomia. Legs, 

 toes, and claws blackish brown, washed with pink on the soles." Habitat, south 

 eastern China. Should the phrase " like in color to Z. curvirostra " be correct, 

 the Crossbill of middle Japan certainly is not identical with that of China, for the 

 Japanese specimens, both male and female, which I have examined are far more like 

 Z. curvirostra bendirei than Z. curvirostra (yera). At any rate, even should 

 they prove on comparison to be the same, the name Z. albiventris is pre-occu- 

 pied, having been bestowed in 1804 by Hermann (Obs. Zool., p. 205) upon a 

 species of Munia. Regarding the Japanese birds as distinct from Z. curvirostra 

 proper (and leaving the question of their relationship to the Chinese bird in 

 abeyance), it becomes necessary to give them a new name. I therefore propose 

 to call them 



Loxia curvirostra japonica NOBIS. SUBSPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Differing 



