472 APPENDIX. 



ACANTHIS LINABIA BOSTBATA. Greater Redpoll. 



ACANTHIS LINABIA HOLBCELLII. HolboelVs Redpoll. 



A. 1. rostrata. Considerably larger than A. linaria ; the bill 

 much stouter ; the upper mandible heavier and more decurved, its 

 outline being noticeably convex, whereas in linaria it is nearly or 

 quite straight. General coloring darker than in linaria or holbcel- 

 lii ; the dark markings heavier ; the dorsal plumage with less 

 whitish ; the streaks on the sides coarser and blacker ; the forehead 

 darker ; the rosy color beneath (of the adult male) duller and usu- 

 ally confined to the breast and abdomen. 



Males : Wing, 3-3.30 ; tail, 2.27-2.70 ; length of bill from base, 

 .40-.45 ; depth of bill at base, .25-.30. 



Females : Wing, 2.95-3.25 ; tail, 2.34-2.60 ; length of bill, .33- 

 .42 ; depth of bill at base, .24-.30. 



Hab. Southern Greenland in summer ; in winter visiting Mani- 

 toba, Labrador, New England, New York, northern Illinois, Minne- 

 sota, and doubtless most of the more northern United States east of 

 Dakota. 



A. 1. holboellii. Intermediate in size between linaria and ros- 

 trata. Color and marking essentially as in linaria, and bill of 

 similar shape but conspicuously longer (.35-.43). 



Hab. Northern coasts of Europe and Asia (Norway to Japan) 

 and portions of the coast of Alaska, wandering southward in winter 

 to eastern Canada (Quebec) and to New England. 



During a " Redpoll winter " both these forms may be found in 

 New England (at least in eastern Massachusetts) associating with 

 A. linaria, but Holboell's Redpoll is of rare and perhaps only acci- 

 dental occurrence. Indeed, I know of but three Massachusetts 

 specimens. Two of these I shot at Swampscott, March 26, 1883 ; 

 the third was taken in Lexington, March 10, 1890, by Mr. Walter 

 Faxon. 



The Greater Redpoll is often rather common, and in Febru- 

 ary, 1883, it occurred along the seacoast near Boston in positive 

 abundance. On the 19th of this month Mr. Spelman and I took 

 thirteen specimens at Revere Beach in about two hours, and on the 

 22d, at Nantasket Beach, two young collectors, by a few random 

 shots into an exceptionally large mixed flock of Redpolls, secured 

 forty specimens, of which six proved to be A. linaria, and thirty-four 

 rostrata. 



As one sees them in winter in New England the forms just men- 

 tioned, with A. hornemannii exilipes, do not differ appreciably in 



