The Redpolls of Massachusetts.— In his ‘Revised List of the Birds of 
Massachusetts’ Mr. Allen includes only two Redpolls, Acanthis linaria 
and A. 1 . rostrata. He does not give his reasons for excluding Acanthis 
hornemanni exilipes , but whatever they may have been, this bird has an 
indisputable right to a place in our fauna. I have examined the speci- 
men taken by Jeffries at Swampscott, Nov. 16, 1878 (see Bull. N. O. C., 
IV, April, 1879, P- 121); that shot by Atkinson and recorded by Dr. 
Brewer (Proc. Bos. Soc. N. H., XX, 1879, p. 270); and a bird in the 
Cambridge Museum, to which Mr. Allen probably referred when he at- 
tributed exilipes to Massachusetts in 1870 (Am. Nat., Ill, p. 583), and all 
three are unmistakable examples of A. h. exilipes. To this number I can 
add the following, none of which seem to have been previously an- 
nounced* : 
A male in the collection of Mr. H. M. Spelman, taken Nov. 15, 1880, in 
Cambridge; a pair shot at Revere Beach, Mass., March 8, 1879, by Mr. 
Foster H. Brackett, and now in the collection of Mr. Charles R. Lamb; a 
pair killed at Revere Beach, March 9, 1883, by Messrs. Spelman and Chad- 
bourne, the former of whom has the male, the latter the female ; and a 
male shot at Nantasket Beach, Feb. 22, 1883, by Matthew Lucas, Jr., and 
in the collection of the present writer. All of the males just mentioned 
are in gray (immature ?) plumage. 
Besides the forms above referred to, a fourth occurs, at least rarely, in 
Massachusetts. This is Acanthis linaria holbcellii Brehm, of which I 
have two examples,! shot together at Swampscott, March 26, 1883; both 
are males, one in gray plumage, the other a rosy-breasted adult (?). 
Thus of the five Redpolls attributed to North America at large four 
have been found in Massachusetts. Of these A. linaria visits us in abun- 
dance, but of course more or less irregularly ; A. rostrata in smaller 
numbers, but still plentifully at times, as in February, 1883 (see Bull. 
N. O. C., Vol. VIII, pp- 95-99, recorded as rEgiothus linaria holboelli ); 
A. h. exilipes in very limited numbers, and perhaps even less regularly 
than either of the two preceding; while A. 1 . holbcellii is apparently the 
rarest of the four and possibly a mere accidental straggler. The fifth 
North American form, Acanthis hornemanni typica, has never been taken 
within the limits of the United States. 
As the recent shifting of names in this group is somewhat confusing it 
may be well to explain, that the AEgiothus linaria holboelli which I re- 
recoided* from Massachusetts in 1883 is the Acanthis linaria rostrata 
of the A. O. U. List, and the Acanthis linaria holbcellii, now for the first 
time reported from our State, another and very different form, much 
more nearly like true linaria, from which it can be distinguished only 
by its greater size and longer bill. Those who care to look further into 
this subject should consult Dr. Stejneger’s able papers on the genus 
Acanthis. f — William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 
[The omission of Acanthis hornemanni exilipes from my ‘Revised List’ 
was due (1) to the fact that the then latest authorities on this group did 
not recognize exilipes as occurring south of “ Arctic America and North- 
eastern Asia”; (2) in view of the recent radical shifting of names, and 
the supposed not wholly trustworthy identification of at least some of 
the specimens of ‘exilipes ,’ referred to above as recorded from Massachu- 
setts, the omission of this form was thought to be the safer course, es- 
pecially as the alleged specimens were not then accessible to me for 
examination, — J. A. Allen.] 
Auk, 4, April 1887. p. /£,?-/<£>■/, 
’ 
t Dr. Stejneger has kindly examined them and confirmed 
my determination. 
* Bull N. O. C, VIII, pp. 95-99. 
t Auk, 1 , 1884, pp. 145-155; ibid., IV, 1887, pp. 30-35, 
— £? t. , . /I — •y 
Atzdu "y 
For, & Stria, April 24, 1890. p.2 Q8 
