260 FRINGILLIDJS. 



Montifringilla glacialis, Brehm, Ms, 1828, p. 1277 ; id. Vogelf. p. 101 



(1855). 

 Chionospiza nivalis, Kaup, Natilrl. Syst. p. 134 (1829). 

 Fringilla (Orites) nivalis, Keys. 8r Bias. Wirb. Eur. p. xlii (1840). 

 Leucosticte nivalis, DesMurs, Encycl. d'Hist. Nat. part 6, p. 297 



(teste Degland et Gerbe). 



Adult. General colour above brown, with lighter brown edges to 

 the feathers of the mantle and upper back ; rump uniform darker 

 brown ; all tba wing-coverts white ; bastard-wing black : primary- 

 coverts black, white at the base ; quills black, edged with pale brown, 

 the inner primaries tipped with whitish, the secondaries entirely 

 white, the innermost brown with paler brown edges ; upper tail- 

 coverts black with brown edges, the outer ones white or externally 

 white ; centre tail-feathers blackish with brown edges, the next two 

 with more or less white on both webs, the remainder white, with a 

 blackish spot at the end, diminishing in extent towards the outer- 

 most feather ; crown of head greyer than the back, the hind neck 

 and sides of neck ashy grey ; base of forehead whitish ; lores ashy 

 white ; eyelid whitish ; ear-coverts ashy grey, whiter on the cheeks ; 

 under surface of body creamy white, with a black patch on the 

 throat ; breast and abdomen whiter : sides of body and flanks with 

 a pale brownish tinge ; thighs pale ashy brown ; under tail-coverts 

 white, the long ones with a brown spot at the end ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white ; quills below dusky, white on the inner 

 secondaries. Total length 6-8 inches, cidmen 0-5, wing 4*4, tail 

 2-65, tarsus 0-8. 



The winter plumage is very similar to that of summer, but the 

 bill is yellow and the black throat is hidden by whitish margins to 

 the feathers. Slight remains of brown margins to the lesser wing- 

 coverts are discernible in some specimens killed in winter, but are 

 probably indicative of immaturity. I have not seen a young bird, 

 and cannot say if the primary-coverts are entirely blackish, as in 

 the allied species, but this is most probably the case. 



There is no difference in size or colouring of the sexes, both males 

 and females having the wing from 4*05 to 4*85 and 4-9 inches. 



Hob. Mountains of Southern Europe eastwards to Palestine. 



a. Ad. st. Europe. Purchased. 



b. Ad. sk. S. Europe. Hume Coll. 



c. Ad. sk. S. Europe (H. Saunders). Gould Coll. 



d. Ad. sk. S. Europe. Gould Coll. 



e. Ad. sk. Luchon, Pyrenees. Salvin-Godman Coll. 

 /'. 9 ad. sk. Switzerland. Hume Coll. 



g, h. <3 2 ad. sk. Italian Alps, Dec. 1882. Prof. Giglioli [P.]. 



2. Montifringilla alpicola. 



Passer alpicola, Pall. Zoor/r. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 20 (1811). 

 Montifringilla leucura, Bp. C. R. xli. p. 657 (1855, ex Gould MSS.). 

 Montifringilla nivalis (nee L.), Horsf. fy Moore, Cat. B. E. I. Co. 



Mus. ii. p. 491 (1856) ; Severtz. Tu'rkest. Jevotn. p. 75 (1873). 

 Fringilla alpicola, Gray, Hand-l. B. ii. p. 85, no. 7252 (1870). 

 Montifringilla fringilloides, Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 242. 



