190 



specimens, was very common and more generally distributed than F. tintillon, being found 

 from about 1500 feet right through the chestnut- woods, laurel-woods, and into the pine-forests. 

 I could distinguish a difference in its call-note and also in the song of the male, but it is very 

 difficult to put in writing. F. tintillon says chee-wut cliee-weet, the Palma bird che-weet che-wit. 

 I wrote this down at the time, so I think it is right. The song is decidedly different, but I 

 cannot attempt to put it into words. The female of this Chaffinch is much lighter coloured, 

 with much less green on the back than F. tintillon." 



In general habits and mode of nidification the Palman Chaffinch, as may be supposed, does 

 not differ from Fringilla tintillon. I have recently received two clutches of its eggs, together 

 with one nest ; the latter closely resembles those of F. tintillon from Teneriffe, and the eggs are 

 also undistinguishable from the paler varieties of the eggs of that species. 



When, in 1873, I wrote the article in the 'Birds of Europe' on Fringilla tintillon I united 

 the forms of Chaffinch which inhabit the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores, believing them to 

 be specifically inseparable ; but subsequent researches and the examination of a larger series of 

 specimens have shown me that, though closely allied, they can be divided, at least subspecifically, 

 into three forms, not counting Fringilla palmce, which, differing more than any of these three 

 forms, may well be treated as a distinct species, though future research may show that it may 

 also differ only subspecifically. The first of these three forms, which I prefer to call Fringilla 

 tintillon, var. canariensis, inhabits the islands of Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and Gomera. It has 

 the upper parts, excepting the rump, dark slate-blue, the crown blackish blue, showing no 

 distinct frontal line, the rump and upper tail-coverts apple-green, and the underparts buffy 

 fawn. The second form, Fringilla tintillon, var. moreleti, which inhabits the Azores, has the 

 upper parts pale slate-blue, the crown slightly darker, and has a tolerably broad blackish-blue 

 frontal line ; the green instead of being confined to the rump and upper tail-coverts extends 

 over the back, and the underparts are coloured as in the Teneriffe bird. There is, however, in 

 the British Museum a specimen of Fringilla tintillon, var. canariensis, from Orotava, which is 

 intermediate, having the back as well as the rump green, and resembles the Azorean form, 

 except that the crown is somewhat darker in tinge. The third form, Fringilla tintillon, var. 

 maclerensis, which inhabits Madeira, exactly resembles the Azorean form, except that the under- 

 parts are not so clear fawn-coloured, but have a tinge of pink ; but in some the difference is so 

 slight that it can only be detected in a very good light, and this last form appears to me to be 

 the one least deserving of distinction. 



In habits and nidification all three forms agree closely, and they are at best but forms of 

 the same species somewhat differentiated by isolation, Fringilla palmce being another form which 

 has differentiated sufficiently to be entitled to specific rank. But Mr. Meade- Waldo states (Ibis, 

 1890, p. 434) that the Chaffinch of Hierro is somewhat intermediate between Fringilla palmce 

 and the Chaffinch of Teneriffe, having a trace of green on the rump, and the white on the 

 underparts is not quite so pure in tinge as in F. palmce ; and I am indebted to this gentleman 

 for the loan of three specimens from Hierro which clearly show the above-mentioned characters, 

 and I therefore hesitate to unite the Hierran bird with Fringilla palmw, which appears to be 

 confined to the island of Palma, where it was found by Messrs. Meade-Waldo and Tristram 

 when they visited that island in 1889. 



