Mr. II. B. Tristram on some Passerine Birds. 231 



XVIII. — Notes 011 some Passerine Birds, chiefly Palaarctic. 

 By H. B. Tristram, LL.D.. F.R.S. 

 Profkssor Spencer F. Baird has most kindly forwarded to 

 me for examination the types of the species of Passerine birds 

 collected in Alaska by the Scientific Expedition under Mr. 

 Kennicott and Mr. Dall. These prove, as Prof, Newton has 

 already remarked (Ibis 1870, p. 521), the decided Palaearctic 

 bearing of the avifauna of Russian America — a hint that Nature 

 sanctioned its tenure by the Czar. 



1. Saxicola cenanthe in no respect differs from a Lapland spe- 

 cimen shot at the same time of year, the mouth of May. 



2. Budytes flava, St. Michael's Bay, 6th June, with white 

 superciliary streak, is identical with specimens in breeding- 

 plumage from the Atlas, Palestine, and Lapland. 



3. Phyllopneuste kennicotti, Baird, St. Michael's, 16th August, 

 proves identical with P. borealis, Bias. The synonymy of this 

 species, therefore, is Phyllopiieuste borealis, ^las. ('Naumannia,' 

 1858, and 'Ibis,' 1862, p. 68), =sylvicultrix, ^winh., = kennicotti, 

 B-dird, = eversman}ii, Midd., nee Bp., =flavescens, G. R. Gray. 



I may observe that there is considerable variation in size in 

 the specimens forming the magnificent series of this species col- 

 lected by Mr. Swiuhoe in China, particularly in the size of the 

 bill j but as all the specimens were collected in the same district 

 in spring and autumn, and possess no other diagnostic cha- 

 racters, I cannot separate them. Nor are the variations greater 

 than in British specimens of P. ti'ochilus. 



Mr. Swinhoe possesses a specimen, obtained by v. Schrenk, 

 from the Kurile Islands, which agrees with the Alaska bird in 

 having the bill as small as in the smaller Chinese specimens. 



All the summer-killed specimens before me, from Alaska, the 

 Kuriles, and Lake Baikal, have the bill and tarsi rather darker 

 than in Chinese spring and autumn birds. This agrees with the 

 observation of Blasius {' Ibis,' 1862, p. 70). 



4. Pyrrhula coccinea, var. cassini. This most interesting 

 bird proves, as was conjectured by Prof. Newton (Ibis, 1870, 

 p. 521), to be a new and good species, and must stand, there- 

 fore, as Pyrrhula cassini, Baird, distinguished from Pyrrhula 

 coccinea by the absence of any red on the lower j)arts, which are 



