iss,|.| Stf.jnf.cf.r i>ii I/ic di'niis Acanthis. ^49 



liaiicy of the red coloi'* on cap and breast, and tlie nearly 

 complete absence of red on the rump. Two other red-breasted 

 m.des from the same locality show no tani^il)le diHerences from 

 holboelUL however, althoug^h it ought not to l)e forgotten that 

 they were killed on the 30th and 37th of May, while the former 

 was obtained on the 27th of July, the difference in date thus ac- 

 counting for the paleness of the two. As the specimen in ques- 

 tion is in rather poor condition, and I have not seen its charac- 

 ters confirmed in other examples, I should not deem it wise to 

 separate it at present ; but I wish to draw the attention of 

 ornithologists who may have more ample material from that par- 

 ticular region, to the probability that the Kodiak bird may 

 constitute a peculiar race. I should add, however, that Ridg- 

 way has alreadv made a similar statement (Hist. N. A. B., I, 

 p. 492).t 



Mr. William Brewster has, in a very instructive and interesting 

 memoir on 'HolboU's Red-Poll' (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1883, 

 pp. 9:1-99), expressed the suspicion that //naria and what he calls 

 holboelJii '^are forms closely allied, but nevertheless sufficiently 

 segregated to rank as distinct species." Compared with my 

 statements above,- we seem to be of very opposite views in this 

 case ; but I think that I can ofter a satisfactory explanation. 



Bv comparing summer specimens of the so-called holboellii 

 from Greenland, and more southern winter birds, with the ordinary 

 form occurring in Europe and America under that name, I 

 was at once struck by the great difterences. The Greenland bird 

 is evidentlv considerably larger, its bill much stouter and some- 

 what differently shaped — not so pointed — besides being on the 

 average a trifle shorter. As to color I thought they were rather 

 darker and heavier streaked below. I was very soon convinced 

 that these birds were difterent from the common holboellii, being 

 in fact the form originally described by Coues as rostratiis, but 

 afterward given up by him. J It was also clear that the specimens 



* In the intensity and brilliancy of these colors it shows a remarkable analogy to the 

 Pinicola inhabiting the same island. This is described by E. v. Homeyer (J. f. Orn., 

 1880, p. 156) as P.fiammula, but being connected with enucleator hy intermediate links 

 it will only stand as Pinicola enucleator flammiila (Homey.). Previously Pallas noted 

 the difference of the birds from Kodiak. 



t Pallas (Zoogr. Ross. As., II, p. 25) also mentions the specimens from Kodiak as 

 remarkable for their long bills and their coloring. 



+ It has been quite erroneously referred to liorneniavnii by Gray (Hand!., II, p. 

 no), Giebel (Thesaur. Orn., II, p. 196) and, strangely to say, by Dr. Coues himself 

 (Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., V, p. 633). 



