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LINOTA HOKNEMANNI. 



(GREENLAND REDPOLL.) 



Fringilla borealis, Temm. Man. d'Orn. iii. p. 264 (1835, nee Vieill.). 

 ILinota canescens, Bp. Comp. List, p. 34 (1838, nee Gould). 

 Linota hornemanni, Holb. Naturh. Tidsk. iv. p. 398 (1843). 

 Linota linaria, Newton, Notes Orn. Icel. p. 11 (1863, nee Linn.). 



Avy&nutitlingur, Icelandic; OrpingmiutaJc, Greenlandic. 



Figurce notabiles. 

 Werner, Atlas, Granivores, pi. 14 ; Hancock, Cat. B. North. & Durh. pi. 5. 



cf ad. ptil. (est. Linota linaria similis sed major, rostro robustiore, coloribus pallidioribus, uropygio et supra- 

 caudalibus albis vix rosaceo tinctis : colli lateribus et corpore subtus albis, pectore rosaceo tincto, 

 hypochondriis fere immaculatis : rostro fusco : pedibus nigris : iride fusca. 



Ad. ptil. Mem. plumis in corpore supra lathis albido et cervino marginatis, plaga, rubra frontali obscuriore : 

 uropygio albo : corpore subtus albo, bypochondriis indistincte striatis : gula, et capitis lateribus cervino 

 lavatis : rostro flavo, nigro apicato. 



Adult Male in summer (Spitzbergen, 20th July) . In general plumage paler than typical Linota linaria ; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts white, unstriped, and tinged with rosy red ; sides of the neck nearly white ; and 

 underparts white, without any stripes on the flanks ; breast washed with rosy red ; legs black ; iris 

 brown. Total length about 5 - 5 inches, culmen 0'4, wing 33, tail 2 - 75, tarsus - 7. 



Adult in winter (Greenland) . Differs from the specimen above described in having the plumage fresher and 

 newer; the red on the crown is slightly obscured ; feathers on the upper parts blackish brown, very 

 broadly margined with white, and washed with brownish buff; rump pure white; underparts white, 

 the black on the upper throat restricted in area ; the throat and sides of the head washed with warm 

 buff, and the flanks slightly striped ; bill yellowish, tipped with black. 



Obs. An autumn-killed female, obtained at Lichtenfels, in Greenland, on the 9th September, is much 

 darker than either of the birds above described, and appears to me to be a bird of the year. It so 

 closely resembles some examples of L. linaria that I can only distinguish it by its greater size and 

 large and stout bill. Holboell says that the old female in winter dress and the young bird after its first 

 moult differ from the old male in winter plumage merely in wanting the rosy red tinge on the breast and 

 rump, and in being less white, there being a few grey streaks on the flanks. In the nestling-plumage 

 the young bird is plain grey without any black on the throat. 



In my article on Linota linaria I enter fully into the question of the various forms of Redpolls 

 which inhabit the Palsearctic Region ; and, as there stated, I find it advisable to treat them as 

 separable though but ill-defined species. The present form {Linota hornemanni) is the largest 



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