CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. 
GENUS XV. — PYRRHU1.A. 
PYRRHULJ FRONTALIS, BON AT A RTF.. 
CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. 
^^AEARTEj PLATE VI.’ FIG. I. M ALE. — — FIG- H. FEMALE. 
At - 
w L ' c 'i confusion exists in tlie works of naturalists 
\vitl Ctin S those finches and bullfinches that are tinged 
O o 1 >'ed ; and, in fact, their great resemblance to each 
tlift' aud their intricate synonymy, render them very 
"oil Ult to elucidate. The only species in Wilson’s 
/.• . k with which the present may he confounded is the 
purpurea, a bird closely related to ours, and 
os, first time well described and permanently 
s, )i ; , .’ ll shed by that author.* But several other allied 
fill'!’ 68 may be mistaken for the crimson-necked bnll- 
lir,. ; 4 "'o of these, belonging to the genus Pyrrhula, 
iu<] S - Ut so much analogy with the present species, 
c 0 ,.j; from their descriptions, that we doubted the 
ec tness of giving the latter a separate place, con- 
/ r 
T>i’t 
?«Jd' 
.^ e Was ratlier precipitate in asserting the Fringilla rosea and 
i 0 er ytfirhui tone identical with his bird, as they are actually 
■o^y distinct species, belonging to the genus Pyrrhula , and 
uf ' to the old continent, whilst the Purpureu is a true FrinyiUu , 
* Uv e.d* ecu ^ ar to America. To those who have not critically 
^ted the subject, it may appear somewhat inconsistent to 
Hp ’ . the Erylhrina is not an inhabitant ot this continent, 
Ain e . u ls a well known fact, that many authors speak of it as an 
r(>r nov C ? n bird. This apparent contradiction may be readily 
til ** 1 by considering what bird those authors alluded to when 
^tll tated the Eryihnna to be a native of North America. When 
' lrn expressed a doubt in his Synopsis, whether the birds m 
bbourhood of New York, so much resembling the 
were not specifically the same, he alluded to the 
bon - a Purpurea: Gmeliu, as usual, in his miserable conipua- 
cri,J ,n4j erted this doubt of Latham as a certainty* As to the 
tl, Us ^beaded finch of Pennant, it is evidently the Purpurea, 
eXc Using, in part, the strange assertion of Wilson. Latham 
e W? lu ‘bh'd an error in his index, by placing the Loxm 
u Vilr j nct of Pallas and Gmelin, liis own crimson-headed hack, an 
^ °f Frinqilla rosea. 
V. 
K 
