272 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 557. 



original account of the type of this species 

 the reader is referred to ' The Birds of North 

 America,' Baird, 1858, page 716. 



Brewster's linnet, acanthis brewsterii 



RIDGWAY. 



The type specimen of Brewster's linnet was 

 taken by Mr. William Brewster at Waltham, 

 Mass., on November 1, 18Y0. The bird is a 

 female. The type still exists in the collection 

 of Mr. Brewster at Cambridge, and no other 

 individual of this kind is known. In appear- 

 ance the bird differs from other members of 

 the genus in which it has been placed by Mr, 

 Eidgway chiefly in lacking the red spot on 

 top of the head and the dusky spot on the 

 chin characteristic of the adults, especially 

 the males of the genus Acanthis. Therefore, 

 the exact relationship of this bird is some- 

 what obscure, though its generic status has 

 not been questioned. For the original de- 

 scription of this species the reader is referred 

 to the American Naturalist of July, 1872, 

 page 433. 



townsend's bunting, spiza townsendii 

 (audubon). 



On May 11, 1883, Mr. J. K Townsend, ob- 

 tained, while collecting, the type specimen on 

 which this form is based. It is an adult male, 

 and remains unique. The relationship of this 

 bird is obvious; it can only be regarded as the 

 close ally of the dickcissel, Spiza americana 

 (Gmelin). (Cf. Audubon's 'Ornithological 

 Biography,' Vol. II., p. 183, 1834.) 



Commenting on the status of this bird the 

 , Committee of the Ornithologists' Union say : 

 ' Its peculiarities can not be accounted for by 

 hybridism nor probably by individual varia- 

 tion.' ' 



carbonated warbler, dendroica carbonata 



(audubon). 

 This bird is known only from Audubon's 

 colored plate and his description of two speci- 

 mens killed near Henderson in Kentucky in 

 May, 1811. The birds were probably both 

 males. Audubon's account of the event may 



' ' A. 0. U. Cheek list N. A. Birds,' 2d edition, 

 p. 331, 1895. 



be found in the ' Ornithological Biography,' 

 Vol. L, p. 308, pi. 60, 1831. 



blue mountain warbler, dendroica montana 

 (wilson). 

 The Blue Mountain warbler is only known 

 from the works of Wilson and Audubon. The 

 specimens on which they based their descrip- 

 tions were taken in the Blue Ridge Mountains 

 of Virginia. The bird was figured^ but no 

 specimens are at present known. (Cf. Wil- 

 son, ' American Ornithology,' Vol. V., p. 113, 

 pi. 44, fig. 2, 1812.) 



small-headed WARBLER, WILSONIA MICRO- 

 CEPHALA (rIDGWAy).^ 



This again is one of the species described 

 by both Wilson and Audubon. It is said to 

 have been taken in points so widely separated 

 as New Jersey and Kentucky, but is only 

 known by the colored plates and the descrip- 

 tions made by the above naturalists. It does 

 not seem probable that with all the careful 

 detailed work that has been done in both 

 regions during the last fifty years the small- 

 headed warbler is till extant. The bird 

 is so widely different from any of its con- 

 geners as to make confusion with them impos- 

 sible, nor has the theory of hybridity been ad- 

 vanced to account for this supposed species. 

 There then remain the two hypotheses as to 

 the status of Wilsonia micro cephala; either 

 the individuals which came under the ob- 

 servation of Wilson and Audubon were the. 

 last survivors of this species which was dying 

 out and has become extinct, or these birds 

 were ' mutations ' that occurred ephemerally 

 and did not flourish, but died out almost im- 

 mediately.^ 



CUVIER's kinglet, REGULUS CUVIERII AUDUBON. 



On June 8, 1812, Audubon obtained on the 

 banks of the Schuylkill River, at a place 

 called Flatland Ford, in Pennsylvania, the 

 only specimen of Cuvier's kinglet known. If 



' Muscicapa minuta Wilson (cf. Am.- Orn., Wil- 

 son,, Vol. VI., p. 62, 1812, pi. 1, fig. 5, nee. Gmelin, 

 1788). 



' Cf. Ridgway, Pro. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. VIII.,, 

 p. 354, 1885. 



