MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 271 



subject has only confirmed me in the opinion that they are not distinct, 

 and that in all probability the C. elegans of California should also be re- 

 ferred to the C. ludovicianus.* 



TANAGRID-2E. 



The Pyranga (estiva became common on the Lower St. John's 

 April 1st to 5th, but was not observed previously. P. rubra was not 

 seen at all. 



A considerable number of specimens of this species (P. cestiua) in the 

 Museum, from the Atlantic States, present great differences in the size of 

 the bill in respect to vertical and lateral thickness, as well as in the posi- 

 tion and distinctness of the " tooth " of the bill, and in the curvature 

 of the commissure, as indicated by the accompanying figures (Plata IV, 

 figs. 19, 20). They also vary greatly in intensity of color, both of the bill 

 and plumage, as do different specimens of P. rubra from Massachusetts. 

 Hence species based solely on such distinctions should be accepted, if at 

 all, with great hesitancy, f 



FRINGILLID^l. 

 39.t Chrysomitris tristis Bonaparte. Yellow Bird. 

 Common throughout the winter, and as numerous the first week in 

 April as earlier. 



I am sure I heard the notes of the Pine Finch {Chrysomitris pinus), 

 but as I obtained no specimens of it and do not find it reported by 

 others, I do not include it in the present list. It is not improbable 

 that this species and the Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureas) are 

 occasional winter visitors. 



* Since writing the above I have met with the following observations on this group, 

 made by Dr. Gambel, in his " Remarks on the Birds observed in Upper California " 

 (Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. Ill, p. 200, 1S47): "In the shrikes we are presented 

 with a group of birds closely allied to each other, and undergoing such changes in 

 plumage as renders them difficult to discriminate. Although examined with great care 

 by Swainson in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, yet he appears to have laid too much 

 Stress upon characters subject to great variation, as sue, relative length of quills, and 



color The relative length of quills in the snrikes i» an uncertain character, and 



differs very much according to age. In the young of this species the second quill is 

 generally much shorter than the sixth, but in the adult equals and may even exceed the 

 sixth in length; the proportion of 'he third, fourth and fifth to each other is also exceed- 

 ingly various, and indeed m each wing of the same bird it is very common to find the 

 proportions of the quills differing very materially. This I have found to be the case in 

 the European and botb American , v eeies [iniluno ludovicianus and C. borealis)." 



t See some remarks on the" Uniformly red >pecies of Pyranga," m Proceed. Phil. 

 Aead. Nat. Sciences, p. 127. June, l&G'J. 



