_Linaria canescens_, GOULD, “Birds Europe, pl. cxciii.” _Linota
canescens_, BONAP. List, 1838. _Acanthis canescens_, BON.
Conspectus, 1850, 541.—BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 47,
tab. li.—ROSS, Ed. Phil. Jour. 1861, 163. _Ægiothus canescens_,
CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
429.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 388.—SAMUELS, 295. “_Fringilla
borealis_, TEMMINCK, 1835. Not of Vieillot.” Bonaparte. _?
Fringilla borealis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 87, pl. cccc. _?
Linaria borealis_, AUD. Birds Am. III, 1841, 120, pl. clxxviii.
“_Linaria hornemanni_, HOLBÖLL, Kroyer Nat. Tidskr. 1843.”
_Ægiothus exilipes_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Nov. 1861, 385.—ELLIOT,
Illust. N. Am. Birds, I, pl. ix.
SP. CHAR. _Autumnal female._ Greenland race (_canescens_). (23,377,
Greenland, Univ. Zoöl. Mus. Copenhagen.) In general appearance like
the corresponding plumage of _Æ. linarius_, but the whole rump
immaculate white; frontal band more than twice as wide as in
_linarius_, and better defined; lower tail-coverts without streaks,
their shafts even being white. Carmine vertical patch only a little
wider than the whitish frontal patch; head with a strong ochraceous
suffusion. Wing, 3.30; tail, 2.90; bill, .35 and .30; tarsus, .60;
middle toe, .32. Wing-formula, 1, 2, and 3.
HAB. Greenland. Variations with season probably as in smaller
Continental race.
_Adult of both sexes in spring._ Continental race (_exilipes_). As
described for the Greenland form, but without the ochraceous
suffusion. Sides very sparsely streaked.
_Male in spring._ Breast only tinged with delicate peach-blossom-pink,
_this extending farther back medially than laterally_,—just the
reverse of _Æ. linarius_; a very faint tinge of the same in the white
of the rump. Measurements (No. 19,686, Fort Simpson, April 30, 1860;
B. R. ROSS, COUES’S type): Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.55; bill, .29 and .25;
tarsus, .52; middle toe, .30; wing-formula, 2, 1, 3, 4.
_Female in spring._ Similar, but lacking all red except that of the
pileum, which is less intense, though not more restricted, than in the
male. Measurements (No. 19,700, Fort Simpson, April 28; B. R. ROSS):
Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.35; bill, .25 and .22; tarsus, .51; middle toe,
.30.
_Both sexes in autumn._ (♀, Fort Rae.) The white of the whole plumage,
except on the rump, overspread by a wash of pale ochraceous, this
deepest anteriorly; on the anterior upper parts a deep tint of
ochraceous entirely replacing the white; wing-markings broader and
more ochraceous than in the spring plumage. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50;
bill, .30 and .25; tarsus, .51; middle toe, .30.
HAB. Continental arctic America. In winter south into the United
States (as far as Mount Carroll, Illinois).
Though _Æ. canescens_ is nearly identical with _Æ. linarius_ in size,
these two species may always be distinguished from each other by
certain well-marked and constant differences in coloration; the
principal of these have been mentioned in the synoptical table, but a
few other points may be noted here. In spring males of _canescens_ the
delicate rosaceous-pink of the breast does not extend up on to the
cheeks, and backward it extends farther medially than laterally,
scarcely tingeing the sides at all; while in _Æ. linarius_ the
intensely rosaceous, almost carmine, tint covers the cheeks, and
extends backward much farther laterally than medially, covering nearly
the whole sides.
Though the weakness, or shortness, of the toes compared with the
tarsus, is a feature distinguishing, upon almost microscopical
comparison, the _Æ. canescens_ in its two races from the races of _Æ.
linarius_, it will not by any means serve to distinguish _canescens_
and _exilipes_, since, as will be seen by the measurements given, the
proportion of the toes to the tarsus is a specific, and not a race,
character. (RIDGWAY.)
HABITS. The history of the Mealy Red-Poll can only be presented with
some doubts and uncertainties. We cannot always determine how far the
accounts given by others may have belonged to this species, and we can
only accept, with some reserve, their statements.
This form, whether species or race, is known to inhabit Greenland,
where, according to Dr. Reinhardt, it is constantly resident, and I
have received its eggs from that country, where its identification was
apparently complete. Whether this bird is resident in, regularly
migratory to, or only accidental in, Europe, is as yet a question by
no means fully settled. Degland gives it as resident in Greenland
only, and as accidental in Germany, Belgium, and the north of France.
He states that it is known to nest in shrubs and in low trees, and
that, in all essential respects, its manners are identical with the
common Red-Poll. One of these birds was taken alive in a snare in the
vicinity of Abbeville, and kept in a cage, making part of the
collection of M. Baillon.
Yarrell thought that sufficient evidence existed of its specific
distinctness, but Mr. Gould regarded it as a matter of doubt whether
the birds found in Europe were natives, or only arrivals from northern
America. He states that among the London dealers this bird, called by
them the Stone Red-Poll, is well known, and is considered distinct,
but that its occurrence is very rare. Occasionally, at great
intervals, they are said to have been abundant.
Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, procured several specimens of this bird in
Colchester, in January, 1836, and afterwards obtained a living pair,
which he kept for some time. Their notes were much sharper than those
of the _linarius_. Its occurrence was most frequent in winter, many
specimens having been obtained in England, and some also in Scotland.
Its habits throughout the year are supposed to be very similar to
those of the common Red-Poll. Its food is said to be chiefly the seeds
of various forest trees.
Mr. Temminck describes what is undoubtedly this species, under the
title of _borealis_. If this supposition be admitted to be correct,
its geographical distribution becomes much more clearly defined. He
states that it is found during the summer in Norway and Sweden, and is
resident of the Arctic Circle throughout the year, and is also found
in Northern Asia, as well as in America and in other parts of Europe.
He has received specimens from Greenland, and also from Japan,
differing in no respect from those found in Europe.
Audubon states that he procured four specimens of this bird in
Newfoundland. In their habits he could see no difference between them
and the common Red-Poll, but did observe a noticeable difference in
their song. He also states that one was shot by Mr. Edward Harris near
Moorestown, N. J.
Mr. John Wolley, in his expeditions to Lapland, found there only one
species of this genus which was clearly referrible to the Mealy
Red-Poll, and was a common resident bird. One of these eggs from
Lapland is larger, and a much lighter-colored egg, than any of the
common _linarius_. The ground is a greenish-white, sparingly spotted
with dark reddish-brown about the larger end. Its measurement is .80
by .58 of an inch. An egg from Greenland is not perceptibly different
in size, color, or markings.
Holböll, in his papers on the fauna of Greenland, demonstrates very
distinctly the specific differences between this bird and the
_linarius_. These are its stronger and broader bill, the difference in
colors at every age, its much greater size, its very different notes,
and its quite different modes of life, the _canescens_ being a
strictly resident species, and the _linarius_ being migratory.
In the summer this species is found to the extreme north of Greenland,
and has never been known to nest farther south than the 69th parallel.
It is more numerous in North Greenland than the _linarius_, which is
rare at the extreme north, while this is very common even at latitude
73°. This bird builds its nests in bushes in the same manner with
_linarius_, and its eggs closely resemble those of that bird. Its
notes, he adds, do not at all resemble those of the Red-Poll, but are
like those of the _Ampelis garrulus_.
It is a resident of Greenland throughout the year, and in the winter
keeps on the mountains in the interior, but is much more numerous at
latitude 66° than farther south. In February, 1826, Holböll saw many
flocks on the mountains between Ritenbank and Omanak, and in the
journey taken in 1830 by a merchant from Holsteinborg into the
interior of the country a great many flocks were observed. They are
also frequently met with by reindeer-hunters, who go far into the
interior. It is rarely found in South Greenland at any time, and never
in the summer. In mild winters they sometimes come about the
settlements, as happened in the winter of 1828-29, and again in
1837-38. In the intervening winters it was not seen at Godhaab, and in
severe winters it is never to be found near the coast, only single
specimens occurring there in spring and autumn.
Mr. MacFarlane thinks this species spends the winter at Fort Anderson,
as he has met with it as late as December and as early as February,
and believes it to have been present in the vicinity in the interval.
It nests in May. Mr. Harriott found one of its nests on the branch of
a tree, about five feet from the ground. It contained five eggs.
The egg of this species resembles that of the _linarius_ except in
size and its lighter ground-color. The ground is a bluish or greenish
white, dotted with a tawny-brown. The egg is of a more oval shape, and
measures .75 by .60 of an inch.
Ægiothus flavirostris,[112] var. brewsteri, RIDGWAY.