1887.] PKOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 109 



two races, but have so far failed. It will be seen that there are only 

 two females in the collection, and inasmuch as the females of F. piirrhula 

 and its races and nearest allies seem to show greater differences than the 

 males, there might still be some doubt iu regard to the Japanese spe- 

 cies, but in describing F. rosacea Mr. Seebohm informs us {I. c.) that the 

 females of the latter '• do not apparently ditfer IVoai those of P. orien- 

 talis'^ [ = P- griseiventris]. 



Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer {U.cc.) have already shown that there is 

 no diflerence in size, and my measurements fully substantiate their con- 

 clusions. 



Mr. Dresser (B. of Eur., lY, p. 100) speaks of having "examined sev- 

 eral specimens [of P. cincracea = cassini] in the collection of Mr. R. Swin- 

 lioe," from Japan, " which ^re as a general rule a little more dull in gen- 

 eral coloration than those from Siberia." In this connection it may be 

 useful to refer to Swinhoe's own remarks (Ibis, 1871, p. 463) : " On exam- 

 ining these specimens [a pair received from Captain Blakiston] lately, 

 I observed that the male was typical both in size and color, whereas the 

 female was large, and has a wash of Avhite along the web on each side of 

 the stem of each outer tail-feather. From this last character I argued 

 that I had from Hakodadi a female P. cassini Baird." He also mentions 

 having a female from the Kuriles and another one froai Hakodadi, col- 

 lected by Whitely, both similarly marked. This white mark has appar- 

 ently induced Dresser to regard them as distinct and belonging to P. 

 cassini or cineracea. It is now well known, however, that this character 

 is utterly worthless, and 1 have, moreover, the assurance of Mr. See- 

 bohm, who is the fortunate possessor of the Swinhoe collection, that 

 "the alleged skins from Jajian are females of P. orientalist^ (S. iu litte- 

 ris).* The white streak on the outer tail-feathers is less common in P. 

 griseiventris than in the more northern species, but of the specimens in- 

 cluded in my table above it is present iu Nos. 4, 8, 14, and 15. 



I am, therefore, compelled to accept the conclusion arrived at by 

 Messrs. Blakiston and Jouy ^Chrysauth., 1883, Feb., p. — , Amend. List 

 B. Jap., 1884, pp. G4, 81, and Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., VI, 1883, p. 293) 

 that P. rosacea is not a valid species or subspecies. Whether it is 

 " a highly developed stage of plumage of P. orientalis,^'' in other words, 

 whether the gray individuals ever assume thered " flush," I do not know, 

 but I am inclined to doubt it It may be a kind of " dichromatism," as 

 in the owls, and jirobably also in Acanthis and Carpodacus. Mr. See- 

 bohm lays much stress on the " fact that neither of these species [P. 

 orientalis and P. major] has any trace of red on the back," but I have 

 specimens before me both of P. pyrrhula (U. S. Xat. Mus. No. 98013, $ , 

 Bergen, Norway =P. major) and of P. europwa (No. 90601, S , Woolwich, 

 England), which have a decided red "flush" on the back, and Nau- 

 mann refers to similarly colored specimens as very old birds (Vog. 

 Deutschl., IV, p. 386). This tendency of the red color to spread over 



* Cf. bis recent remarks, Ibis^ 1887, pp. 100, 101. 



