360 Mr. W, E. Brooks on the Genus Acanthis. 



Some people might be inclined to say that difference of 

 locality would alter the size ; but those of which I have given 

 the measurements are all from the same place, Uugava, 

 where four species of Acanthis are found. 



In his paper on the genus Acanthis C^The Auk/ 1884), 

 Dr. Stejneger speaks of another species of Acanthis — A. 

 rostrata, Coues. This is also found in Ungava, and down along 

 the coast to the more northern United States. Of this species 

 I have seen two males and two females collected near Fort 

 Chimo, Ungava. It is a tine robust bird, almost equalling 

 A. hornemanni in size. The two males had wings 3"40 and 

 3-10, and the two females 3-10 and 3-00. The bill is of a 

 peculiar form, convex on the outlines, and shaped more like 

 a Sparrow's than a RedpolFs. The coloration is like that of 

 A. linaria, except that the streaks below are darker and 

 bolder, and on the whole it is not such a mealy-looking bird 

 as A. linaria. 



If it should be said that the white tone of ^. hornemanni is 

 due to residence in very northern latitudes, here we have the 

 dark A. rostrata inhabiting the very same country. Let it 

 be remembered that it is a Greenland bird, found also in 

 North-east America, i. e. Labrador. One of the males Avas 

 a red May bird collected at Fort Chimo, Ungava. The red 

 on the breast did not reach so far down as in A. linaria and 

 ended abruptly. The upper and lower tail-coverts are 

 strongly streaked in this species ; but it is the excessively 

 heavy flank-streaking that strikes one so forcibly at first 

 sight. Briefly it may be described as a large, dark, heavily 

 streaked Redpoll with a Sparrow-like bill, in contradistinc- 

 tion to the large white Redpoll, A. hornemanni, with a true 

 Redpoll bill. Those who prefer to consider it a subspecies 

 may do so ; but to my eye it is so thoroughly distinct that I 

 should never dream of confounding it with anything else. 

 Speaking of Acanthis rostrata, Dr. Stejneger says {' The 

 Auk,' 1881, pp. 149-150) :— ''Mr. William Brewster has, in a 

 very instructive and interesting memoir ' On HolbolFs Red- 

 Poll' (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1883, pp. 95-99), expressed 

 the suspicion that A. linaria and what he calls A. holboelli 'arc 



