r.^U XOUTII AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ami Idat'k bands, more nuiiieious s^xjIs of white on the heail, etc. The inner 

 wehs i»t" inner secondaries are Itanded with white, imt unilorn. l)hick. Tiie 

 niaxilhirv hhu-k strijie is ratlier hiruer than tlie rictal white one, not sniaHer. 

 The si/e is decidedly smaller. Females almost alwavs have the toi* of liead 

 spottetl witli white instead of uniform hlack, which is the rule in crrfints. 



It is ])r()hal»le that the ditfereiice in the amount ol" white on the n]>i»er 

 parts of tliis species is to some extent due to a«^e and season, the winter 

 s]»ecimens and the youn<4 showing it to the greatest decree. Still, however, 

 there is a decided ^eouraphical relationship, as already i idieated. 



This race of J\ fr/'f/xiftf/ifs can be easily distinuuished from the European 

 fi>rm of Northern and Ali)ine Europe by the tail-feathers; of these, the outer 

 three are white (the rest black) as far as exposed, without any bands ; the 

 tip t)f the third beini^ white only at the end. The su])ra-oculav white stripe 

 is very narrow and scarcely a] )preciable ; the crissum white and unhanded. 

 The back is banded transversely in one variety, striped lon«_ntudinally in the 

 other. In P. tri'liufjilns the outer two feathers on each side are white, 

 banded with black; the outer with the bands regnlar and e<[ual from base; 

 the second black, exctqjt one or two terminal bands. The crissum is well 

 bandeil with Idaek ; the back striped lon'^itudinally with white; the supra- 

 ocular white stripe almost as broad as the intVa-ocular. P. rrlsoJi'mus, of 

 Siberia, is similar to the last, but difl'ers in white crissum, and from both 

 species in the almost entire absence of dark bands on the sides, showing the 

 Arctic maximum of white. 



We follow Sundevall in nsing the si)eciiic WMWiiatncru'irnHs, Urehni, for this 

 species, as being the first legitimately belonging to it. 1*. hirsntiix of Yieil- 

 lot, nsually ado}tted, is based on a Euroi)ean bird, ami agrees with it, though 

 referred by the author to the American. The name of inuhf/ffh's, Vieillot, 

 selected by Cabanis, is based on lUiifon's figure (PL enl. r>r»o) of a bird said 

 to be from Cayenne, with four toes ; the whole top of the head red from base 

 of l)ill to end of occiput, with the edges of the dorsal feathers narrowly 

 white, and with the three lateral tail-feathers regularly lianded with black, 

 ti])i>ed with red; the fourth, banded white and black on outer web, ti})ped 

 with black. None of those features belong to the bird of Arctic America, 

 and the markings answer, if to either, better to the European. 



HviUTs. This rare and interesting species, so far as has been ascertained, 

 is nowhere a connnon or well-known l)ird. It is ])robably exclusively of 

 Arctic resilience, and oidv occasionally or very rarely is found so far south as 

 Massachusetts. In the winter of 18:>() I found a s])ecinien exposed for sale 

 in the lioston market, which was sent in alcohol to Mr. Audubon. Two 

 specimens have been taken in Lynn, by Mr. Welch, in 186S. They occur, 

 als(. in Southern Wisconsin in the winter, where Mr. Kumlien has several 

 times, in successive winters, obtained sinule individuals. 



Sir John IJichardson states that this binl is to be met Mith in all tin* 

 forests of spruce and fir lying between I^ike Superior and the Arctic Sea, and 



