Mr. W. E. Brooks on the Genus Acanthis. 363 



Dr. Stejiieger adds a P.S. to the following effect, which I 

 forgot to quote in its proper place : — 



"P.S. — Since the above was written, Mr. W. Brewster has 

 had the great kindness to send to me for inspection the 

 specimens upon which his remarks on A. holboelli in his above- 

 quoted paper were based. They confirm what I have already 

 said, and there can, in my opinion, be no doubt that these 

 Redpolls are birds bred in Greenland, or perhaps on the 

 opposite shore of North America, wandering along the coast- 

 line in winter as far south as NeW England and New York. 

 They are, in all respects, true and typical A. I. rostrata.'' 



It may be noticed that A. hornemanni has its diminutive 

 counterpart in A. exilipes, and A. rostrata its diminutive in 

 A. linaria. It would be folly to speculate whether the lesser 

 were evolved from the greater, or the greater from the less ; 

 for we know nothing at all about such derivations, and ideal 

 or imaginary natural history, mere speculation far removed 

 from facts, like the greater part of Mr. Seebohm^s paper on 

 the genus Scolopax, is useless, wearisome, and positively 

 painful. Of what value is fancy in ornithology? and 

 unfortunately the tendency to indulge in flights of fancy is 

 largely on the increase. 



It is strange how uncertain the Redpolls are in their 

 autumnal migration. I have not seen one this last winter, 

 1885-86. In 1884-85 they were plentiful, and during 1883- 

 84 none at all. In 1882-83 they were again numerous, and 

 during 1881-82 I never saw one. Of course I refer to the 

 winters of each term, November to March. This last winter 

 was severe, so also was that of 1883-84. 



In December, January, and February, 1882-83, examples 

 of A. hornemanni were obtained at Fort Chimo, Northern 

 Labrador; so these birds can endure a great amount of cold. 

 In January 1883 we had it 10 and 11 degrees below zero here 

 (Milton, Ontario), very much further south. North La- 

 brador must have been very much colder. 



I have a few examples (four), to all appearances A. eoeilipes, 

 except that the rump is a little streaked, and the lower tail- 

 coverts slightly so. These must be either hybrids between 



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