464 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



Sexes alike in size and coloration. Length 13 in. [331 mm.]. The young differs from the adult 

 in having the whole of the upper and under surface brownish grey, each feather obscurely 

 streaked down the shaft with white. The tail black, broadly tipped with white ; under tail- 

 coverts white, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This race is confined to the forests of Northern Europe and the moun- 

 tain districts of Central Europe, breeding in Norway, Sweden, Gotland, Bornholm, S.W. Finland, 

 the Russian Baltic Provinces (Livonia), Poland, and the governments of Jaroslav, Moscow, and 

 Perm ; Germany (East Prussia, Harz, Schwarz and Bohmer Wald, probably also Thuringer 

 Wald); the Jura and the whole Alpine system, including the French, Swiss, Austrian, and 

 Italian Alps; Austro-Hungary (Lilienfeld district, Tatra, Transylvania, and the Carpathians, 

 Styria, Croatia, and Bosnia), and Bulgaria (Rhodope Mountains). There seems to be no proof 

 of its breeding in the Pyrenees. Though more or less resident, it is given to wandering during 

 the winter months, and has occurred in many parts of Europe where it is not known to breed. 

 Six English records, of which four are from Sussex, have been proved to refer to this form. 

 [F. c. R. j.] 



THINBILLED or SIBERIAN - NUTCRACKER [Nucifraga caryocatdctes macrorhynckus 

 Brehm. German, schlankschnciblige TannenhdJier]. 



1. Description. Distinguished from the European race by the longer and more slender 

 bill, and by the blackish brown upper tail-coverts, of which each feather has a white spot at the 

 extremity of the shaft. The whole plumage is more heavily spotted with white, otherwise the 

 two species are alike, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding grounds of this species are in Asia, across Siberia to Corea, 

 but not in Kamtschatka or in the mountain ranges of Central Asia (Tian Shan and Himalayas), 

 where it is replaced by other forms. In autumn and winter its migrations extend westward 

 through Europe to the British Isles, Scandinavia, France, and Denmark. There are about 

 forty-four records of nutcrackers from Great Britain, most of which probably refer to this form, 

 though few have been properly identified. [F. c. R. J.] 



[ALPINE-CHOUGH [Pyrrhocorax grdculus (Linnaeus) ; Pyrrhocorax alpinus Koch]. This 

 species has little claim to a place on the British list, the only occurrence being probably due to 

 an escape from captivity, which was shot in Oxfordshire in 1881. It is an inhabitant of the 

 mountain systems of South Europe, from the Spanish mountain ranges in the west and the 

 Alps in the north to the Apennines, Balkan Peninsula, and Caucasus, and in Asia from Asia 

 Minor and Palestine to Kashmir and Bhutan. It has occurred in Marocco, but is a sedentary 

 species. [F. c. R. J.] ] 



THE FINCHES 1 



[ORDER: Passeriformes. FAMILY: Fringillidce. SUBFAMILY: Fringillince] 



[CONTINENTAL-GOLDFINCH [CardvAlis carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus). French, chardonneret ; 

 German, Distelzeisig, Stieglitz ; Italian, cardellino]. 



1. Description. Differs from the British form in being larger and brighter in colour, 

 in having the neck-spot larger and whiter, the rurnp and upper tail-coverts whitish, and 

 the flanks and sides darker. The sexes are alike in coloration, excepting that in the male 

 the red of the lower parts of the face extends backwards beyond the margin of the eye, 

 whereas in the female this colour does not extend beyond a line drawn through the eyes. 

 Length 5J in. [140 mm.], [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



1 Vol. L p. 64. 



