Jan.. 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 575 



241a. Acanthis linaria holboellii (Brehm). 

 Holboll's Redpoll. 



Distr.: Northern parts of northern hemisphere, breeding in the 

 Arctic regions, occasionally south in winter to northern United States 

 (New York, Massachusetts, Illinois). 



Similar to .4. linaria, but averaging larger, and the bill proportion- 

 ally longer, the difference being merely one of size and by no means 

 constant; identification is often difficult. It is apparently inter- 

 mediate between linaria and rostrata. 



Male: Wing, 2.85 to 3.05 ; tail, 2.25 to 2.50; bill, .36 to .42; depth 

 of bill, .25 to .30. 



Female: Wing, 2.80 to 3; tail, 2.25 to 2.48; bill, .35 to .42; depth 

 of bill, .25 to .30. 



There has been more or less confusion as to Illinois records of this 

 form. Mr. H. K. Coale records a female (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 

 Vol. VIII, 1883, p. 239) shot in Chicago by Mr. Geo. F. Klingman, 

 Nov. 2, 1878, which was identified by Mr. Ridgway as holbcsllii. 



Mr. W\ W. Cooke (Bird Migration Mississippi Valley, 1888, p. 

 181) writes : " Mr. Ridgway kindly informs me that he examined speci- 

 mens from northern Illinois," and later Mr. A. W. Butler (Birds of 

 Indiana, 1897, p. 924) mentions a specimen taken by Mr. Coale, 

 Nov. 21. 1878, in Cook Co., 111., near the Indiana line, which he 

 states was the first Illinois record {sic) and adds that while it was 

 reported as .4. /. holba:llii it was evidently rostrata. He does not, 

 however, inform us how he arrived at this conclusion. To further 

 complicate matters the only reference for Illinois given by Mr. 

 Ridgway in his "Birds of North and Middle America" in the synon- 

 omy under holboellii is that of Mr. W. W^. Cooke as cited above, the 

 others being given under rostrata. 



Assuming that "the specimens examined by Mr. Ridgway from 

 northern Illinois," were those taken by Mr. Coale and which he now 

 evidently considers to be rostrata, the number of Illinois records for 

 this form becomes decidedly reduced. 



According to Kumlien and Hollister, Holboll's Redpoll is a rare 

 winter straggler in Wisconsin. They write: " One specimen was 

 shot at Lake Koshkonong, January 22, 1867 (L. K.), and identified 

 by Prof. Baird in 188 1. In a series of redpolls taken during January, 

 February, and March, 1896, by Mr. J. N. Clarke at Meridian, are four 

 specimens easily referable to this race. Mr. Clarke has kindly sent 



