284 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



markings more sharply defined ; in the breeding season the plumage 

 assumes a burnt appearance, the dark tints intensify and spread, 

 so that sometimes the upper parts appear almost uniformly dusky ; 

 the bill appears larger than in winter, in consequence of the less 

 development, or wearing away, of its basal tufts. In this dusky 

 summer condition it becomes the M. fuscescens of Coues. In the 

 series of over two hundred examples examined, all midsummer 

 specimens are in the plumage of fuscescens, while the latter is not 

 seen in any autumnal, winter, or spring birds. 



This pretty little bird is a common and regular winter visitor in 

 the northern portions of the State, but its occurrence in the south- 

 ern portions is so rare that the writer has seen it but on one oc- 

 casion at Mount Carmel. It appears in flocks, which feed upon 

 the seeds of various herbaceous plants, and is very unsuspicious. 

 Its breeding range includes the whole region from Labrador to 

 Alaska, with an undetermined southern limit, which, however, prob- 

 ably nowhere approaches very near to the northern boundary of 

 the United States. 



According to Dr. Brewer, "their migration southward in winter is 

 evidently caused more by want of food than by the state of the 

 temperature. They remain in high northern regions in the most 

 inclement weather, and often appear among us in seasons not re- 

 markably cold, and remain until late in the spring." 



Acanthis linaria rostrata (Coues). 



GREATER REDPOLL. 



Popular synonym. Greenland Dusky Redpoll. 

 Mgiothus rostratus COUES, Proc. Phil. Ac. 1861, 378. 

 Acanthis linaria rostrata STEJNEGEB, Auk, i, 1884, 153. 

 ^Egiothus llnarius, var. Jiolbolli B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. 1. 1874, 493 (part). 

 jEgiothus linaria holbolli RIDGW. Nom. Am. B. 1881, No. 179 a. 

 JEgiothus linaria holboelli BBEWST. Bull. N. O. C. 1883, 95 (critical). 

 Linaria brunnesdens TON HOMEYEB. J. f. 0. 1879, 184 (part?). 



CHAB. Similar to A linaria (vera) in plumage (usually, however, more heavily 

 streaked on the sides, etc.), but all the dimensions decidedly greater. Wing, 3.00-3.30; 

 tail. 2.60-2.70; culmen, .41-.47; depth of bill at base, .25-.30; tarsus, .65-.70; middle toe, 

 .35-.40. 



This large race of A. linaria is the Greenland representative of 

 the species, though it is by no means confined to that country. It 

 is, however, there, the prevailing if not the only form, while on the 



