60 



CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIllDS. 



212. Chrysomitris pinus (Unrtr.) Bp. d 317. c i48. u laa. 



I'iiie Lliiiii't; Anioriouii Miskin. 



213. Astragalinus tristis (L.) Cub. B 313. c 149. u I8I. 



Ainorioaii GoUlflnoh. 



214. Astragalinus lawrencii (Cass.) Coucs. B 310. c iso. u i83. 



I^iwrenec'ii Cioltllliich. 



215. Astragalinus psaltria (Say) Cones. B 3i4. c iBi. R 182. 



ArkuntD.w Goldtliivh. 



216. Astragalinus psaltria arizonae Coiios. b — . c nu. n is'ja. 



Arizona Goldfinch. 



212. Chry-s8-mI'-trTs pi'-nQs. fSr. xpi'<'''>/<'Tpit, Imving a Roldcn hpa'l-dross or girdlp ; xpvaioi, 



gohk'ii, anil ju/rpo, a iiiitrt'. 'i'liiTc arc otliiT forms of tliu word, varyiiiy in tlio vowels, as 

 XpvffofiiTpris and xp"<'°f'V'''pt*- '^'I>l' latter, which oeutirs in Aristutk-, Is translatitl (iiiricillis 

 liy (iaza; a^^ ISundwall runiarks, iK'i^hti'nin^ thi> ])robaliility that it is tlii< name word a<i 

 Xpvfrofilrpris, and is based upon the hrijiht apjiearancc of the Kur(i|iean (iohltiiich, F. 

 canliidis L. — Some other names of elassie origin for the (iohlHneh and its relatives miiy 

 be here conveniently noted. Aristotle had three species of " AcaullKijthiuin " as he called 

 them ; i.e., birds living upon i)rickly plants; as we should say, " thistle-liirds." 1. One 

 of these was the Opavvls or BKvirCs, concerning which see (Imllihijiis, No. 141. 2. 'J'ho 

 XpvtronrJTpts, as juist said. .'!. His axavBls, which was undoubtedly the FrimjiUa canmi- 

 himi L. This in Latin becomes sin'mis, of late years taken as the specific name of /•'. 

 spimcs L. — The exact Latin of " thistle-bird " is tanliulis, occurring in I'liny ; it is from 

 carcliiii.i, a thistle, and reajipears in numerous sliipes ; as Ital. (•(trtlmllo, ranhllo; atrdiii lino, 

 cnrthllimi (compare Cardclliim, No. luO), and also (jdrthUo and (iiinldliito; Kr. rlitinloimi'ivt, 

 &c. Aristotle speaks of the .slutrj) voice of his iicav6ls — Kiyvpi ; whence liiiiiiiiius, another 

 of the many names for birds of this kind. So liave we later derived siskin from the 

 sharp note; Swe<lish si.ihi, Dutch sijuk-iii, (ienn. ;ici"iii, Polish r:i/:, &c. — Another (!reek 

 name for some kind of thistle-bird, ])erhaps the European Goldfinch, is CKTrpayaKifos, in 

 liSiiO api)lied by C'abanis to the American Uoldfinuh, as a generic term: see next word. 

 — Lat. piiim, a pine-tree. 



213. As-tr5-g5-li'-nfls tris'-tls. Gr. i,(TTpaya\7vos is given by Cabanis as the word, and as a 



name of a thistle-bird; it is evidently an adjectival form from &.aTpdya\os, a die, one 

 of the ankle-bones, and also, in Dioscorides, the name of some kiixl of jilant ; whence 

 the modern botanical genus Aalnuialii.f. The original application of aar pay aKTvos is 

 undoubtedly to some bird that lived upon, or frequented, the plant in mention, its recent 

 transference to an American Goldfinch being of course arbitrary. When the jiresent 

 species was first described it was calle<l chnrdoiment de rAiiiciiijiic, i. c, rardudin itineri- 

 rami : see No. "212. — Lat. tri.slis, sad, in allusion to the plaintive cry of the bird. 



214. A. law-rfin'-cl-i. To George N. Lawrence, of New York, the eminent ornithologist. 



215. A. psal'-trl-S. See explanation of PiKiItn'iinrit.i, No. 5:}. Psaltria is not a Lat. adj. 



to be made agreeable in gender with Astnujalinus, but a Greek noun, t/^rfArpio. signifying 

 a female lutist. " Arkansaw " is not, as it would seem to be, " Kansas " with a jirefix, 

 nor is it the name by which the aborigines of that country knew themselves ; nor is 

 " Kansas " the right name of any tribe of Indians. The meaning of neither of these 

 words is known. " Arkansaw " is preferable to Arkansas, as nearer the original 

 "Arkanso." 



216. A. p. 5-rI-z5'-na5. Named after the Territory of Arizona, where discovered in 1804. 



See Peucaa, No. 253. 



