_P. coccinea_, var. _cassini_, BAIRD, Trans. Chicago, Ac. Sc. I,
1869, ii, p. 316.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 281
(Alaska). _P. cassini_, TRISTRAM, Ibis, 1871, 231.—FINSCH, Ornith.
N. W. Amerikas, 1872, 54.
[Illustration: _Pyrrhula cassini._]
SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 49,955: Upper parts clear
ash-gray, as are the alula, and the lesser and middle secondary and
the primary wing-coverts. Under parts and the sides of head
cinnamon-gray; the inside of wings and axillars, anal region, tibia,
crissum, and rump white; wings and tail, including upper tail-coverts,
the entire top of head (to level of eyes), the base of bill all round,
and the chin, lustrous violet-black. Greater wing-coverts black, with
a broad band of ashy-white across the ends; outer primaries,
externally, with a narrow border of grayish-white near the ends; inner
edges suffused with the same. Outer tail-feathers with an elongated
patch of white in the terminal half, along the shaft, but not reaching
the tip. Bill black; feet dusky.
Dimensions (prepared specimen): Total length, 6.50; wing, 3.55; tail,
3.25. Exposed portion of first primary, 2.65. Bill: Length from
forehead, .44; from nostril, .34. Legs: Tarsus, .75; claw alone, .26;
hind toe and claw, .45; claw alone, .25.
No. 49,955, adult male. Nulato, Yukon River, Alaska. January 10, 1867.
W. H. DALL (No. 553).
The specimen referred to above is the first record of the occurrence
in America of a genus heretofore considered as belonging exclusively
to the Old World.
This bird was described in 1869 as a possible variety of _P. coccinea_
of Europe. On submitting the typical specimens to Mr. H. B. Tristram
of England, it was decided to be a well-marked and distinct species,
as explained in the following extract from a letter received from him.
“The coloration of the back is the same as in males of _P.
coccinea_ and _P. rubicilla_, and differs from the coloration of
the ♀ in all three species. In all the ♀ has the back brown
instead of slate-colored. Your bird, however, differs from _P.
coccinea_ in having the under parts of the same color as the ♂ of
_P. griseiventris_ with a slightly redder hue on the flanks,
while _P. coccinea_ is a brilliant blazing red. In this your bird
is like _P. murina_ of the Azores, but that has no white on the
rump.
“Nor can it be ♂ juv. of _P. coccinea_, because it has the
_black_ head, and the young assumes the black head and red breast
simultaneously, or rather the red begins first. It differs from
_P. nipalensis_ in having a black head and broad white rump, as
well as in size.”
Dr. O. Finsch, of Bremen, agrees with Mr. Tristram in considering it
as specifically distinct, and says that the long white shaft-streak on
the outermost tail-feather is to be considered as one of the peculiar
characters, and that in general it resembles the female of _P.
griseiventris_, LAFR., but differs in having the back beautiful
ash-gray.
HABITS. This new species of Bullfinch, having a close resemblance to
the _P. coccinea_ of Europe, was obtained by Mr. Dall, near Nulato,
Alaska, January 10, 1867. An Indian brought it in alive, but badly
wounded, having shot it from a small tree near the fort. He had never
seen anything like it before, nor had any of the Russians. Captain
Everett Smith had, however, met with several flocks of the same
species near Ulukuk. This specimen was a male, with black eyes, feet,
and bill, and was the only bird of the kind met with by Mr. Dall.
In size it is about equal to _P. coccinea_, which is now quite
generally considered to be simply a large race of the common Bullfinch
(_P. vulgaris_), and the habits of the American bird are doubtless
similar to those of its congeners. The European races inhabit the
mountainous regions of Northern and Central Europe, appearing in large
flocks in December and January in the more southern regions. In their
return in spring to their summer quarters, they move in smaller
numbers. They nest in the mountain forests, on trees or bushes. Their
nest is usually but a few feet from the ground, is beautifully wrought
in a cup shape, made externally of small twigs, blades of grass, and
rootlets, lined with coarse hair. They lay five eggs, the ground-color
of which shades from a light blue to a bluish or a greenish white,
with brown and violet-colored spots, that usually form a ring around
the larger end. Their food is grain and small seeds, and, in spring,
the buds of certain trees.
The Bullfinch is a favorite cage-bird, soon reconciled to confinement,
and capable of being taught to whistle whole airs of opera music with
wonderful exactness and beauty.