FINCHES 377 



by Prof. Newton, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1870, p. 52. Figured 

 indifferently by Gray, " Birds of West of Scotland." A 

 better figure in Chapman's "Handbook of Birds of 

 Eastern North America," 1895, p. 300. 



One near Brighton, May 1872 : Dawson Rowley, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc, 1872, p. G81. 



One near Hull, Feb. 13, 1893, observed for six weeks pre- 

 viously : Cordeaux, Zool., 1893, p. 149. 



Obs. The late Mr. Cordeaux, when reporting the 

 capture of the last-named specimen (I.e.), remarked : 

 " The illustration in Gray's 'Birds of the West of 

 Scotland ' gives a veiy poor idea of the beauty of 

 this bird, which is a true Bunting, and in no way 

 deserving the trivial name of ' Sparrow,' which the 

 Americans apply to so many of their Finches and 

 Buntings." It is, however, not placed with the true 

 Buntings in the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, 

 but amongst the Fringillidae in the genus Zono- 

 trichia. Latham in 1783 called it the "White- 

 throated Finch," and Gmelin in 1788 described it 

 under the name Fringilla alhicollis. Audubon also, 

 who had ample opportunities for studying it in 

 North America, regarded it as a Finch {^Fringilla 

 jpennsylvanica) ; while Edwards long previously (viz., 

 in 1760) described and figured it as the "White- 

 throated Sparrow." Possibly, therefore, it will be 

 productive of less confusion to retain the earliest 

 English name for the species, notwithstanding that 

 it cannot with propriety be included in the genus 

 Passer, or be regarded as a British bird. 



The term " British " should be restricted to those 

 species of birds which for a longer or shorter period 



