256 Svssr•s,The Evening . [AprilAuk

THE (), THE ONLY AMERICAN GENUS OF A PALAEARCTIC GROUP.

BY PROF. PETER P. SUSHKIN, HON. MEMB. A. O. U. MY anatomical,chiefly osteological,study of -likebirds (Fam. Fringillidaeof currentsystems, and allies),has led me to the conclusionsconcerning the systematicrelations within this group which I have briefly summarizedin the Bull. Brit. Orn. CI. November, 1924. Whereasthe Buntings have been found to form a group,perhaps a family, by themselves,and the "Eng- lish" Sparrow(Passer), with a few alliedgenera, proves to belong to theWeaver- (Floceidae), • the remainder of theFringillidae havebeen found to consistof threegroups: Frin•illinae (perhaps only the genusFringilla--Chaffinches and Brambling),Cardudi- na• (Goldfinches,Bullfinches etc.), and Ca•dinalinae(Red and allied genera). The geographicalrelations of these groups are remarkable. Emb•ri•idaeare stronglydeveloped in the Neotropicand Nearctic, forming here a great number of endemicgenera; the old world Ember•idae presenta group by themselves. Cardinal•na•'are exclusivelyAmerican. Of the Ca•dud•ae, the great majority belongto the Palaearctic,quite a numberare Aethiopian,but no genusis certainly Oriental. Only few of the Carduelina•are peculiarto Americaand almostall belongto the Eurasiangenera. The only exceptionis Hes•er•hona, an endemicAmerican genus. Within this subdivision, Cardud•ae, the or Haw- finchespresent a small group of generaby themselves. Their mostimportant external characters are: heavyconical bill; small, obliquelyoval nostrilset closelyin an incisureof the hornysheath; the culmenof the last sendsout an angularprojection which boundsthe nostrildorsal]y; there is no projectionor swellingof the upperborder of the nostril. The palatal surfaceof the horny bill presentsa medianridge and a pair of lateral ones,all three sharpand prominent,and behindthem a pair of fiat knobs,finely

also Newton's Dictionary of Birds p. 897, Vol.1925 XLII] ] SUSHKIN,TheEvening Grosbeak. 257

Fig. 1. a, b, bill of Coccothraustes.c, horny palate of Hesperiphona. ridged,meeting at the middleline. In the lowerjaw, correspond- ing to theseknobs is a pair of similarones, supported by a special dilatation of the bone. The whole structure forms a kind of nut- breaker for splitting hard seeds. The skeleton is essentially Cardueline.The shill, whilediffering in minor,mostly adaptive, details from the other Carduelinegenera (strong impression.of temporalmuscles, massive palatines, etc.), showstypical Cardue- line characters of which I shah mention here the characteristic lateral projection(marked by an asteriskon the figures)of the anterior processof the palatines. The followinggenera show the externalfeatures just mentioned. Coecothraust•s,, , Perissospiza and Hesperi- phona. In Coccothraustes,Eophona, and HesperiphonaI have examinedskeletons too and found them essentiallyalike. Of other ,perhaps the nearestgenus is Chlorisbut it does not showanything of the peculiar"nut-breakers" of the palate. Of the otherAmerican heavy-billed , which are sometimes designatedas Haw-finchesor Grosbeaks,I have alsoexamined, osteologically,Richmondena, , Zamelodia, Guiraca, Cya•ocompsa,Oryzoborus, and Geospiza. They show nothing of 258 TheEvening Grosbeak. [AprilAuk the featuresof Haw-finchesabove described save a purelyadaptive similarityin their heavybill, and presenta groupby themselves. The bonypalate of the Red Cardinalmay serveas an example for this group. Thus,Hesperiphona belongs to the Haw-finchsubdivision of CarduelineFinches which is typifiedby Coeeothraustes;it presents the only peculiarlyAmerican genus of the Haw-finchgroup, and the onlygenus of the wholeCardueline tribe endemicto America. Other American "Grosbeaks" are Cardinaline. The ZoSgeographyof the old worldHaw-finches is as follows.

ß •. ½.

Fig..2. a, bonypalate of Hesperiphona,b, of Coccothraustes,c, of Chry- somitrisspinus, d, of Richmondena.

Coccothrausies.Transpalaearctlc, from Western Europe and Algeria to China and Japan. Eophona. China, lower Amur, Japan. Mycerobas.South of High Asia from Turkestan to Western China. Perissospiza.Himalaya and south of Tibet. Of these, the nearest to Hesperiphonais the Himale-Tibetan Perissospiza,which is extremelysimilar in the shapeof the billt

The tooth of the tomia attributed to Pcrissospiza is individually inconstant. Vol.1025 XLII] ] SUSHKII•,TheEvening Grosbeak. 259 while Hesperiphonaabeillii is singularlylike it in the colorationof the adult male. Thus, Hesperiphonashows clearly its palaearctic,and in particu- lar, Himalo-Tibetan relations. This agreesperfectly with the range of Hesperiphonain America, i.e. the westernpart of the Nearctic, east as far as western Alberta, Rocky Mrs. of Colorado, and New Mexico,to the southreaching the highlandsof Southern Mexico. Farther east, acrossthe prairies, it has spreadonly re- cently feedingon the ash-leavedmaple treesplanted aroundthe farms.• So in this case, as in many others,when the faunae of North America and Asia are comparedit is found that of the elementswhich demonstraterelationship between the two, those confinedto the northwesternparts of North America-showa more intimate relationshipto Asiaticforms, while in the more southern onesthe relationshipis lessintimate. This relationshipmay date back to the land connectionwhich broughtover from Asiathe an- cestors of Titanotheres. I wish to expressmy obligationsto Mr. Outram Bangsfor friendly help of every kind duringmy stay in Cambridgeand for putting at my disposalthe rich materials of the Museum of ComparativeZoSlogy and to Mr. G. Van Tyne for procuringtwo freshly caught Evening Grosbeaksfor my studies.

CONCLUSIONS. 1. Hesperiphonabelongs to the Haw-finch groupof the Cardue- line sectionof the Fringillidae. 2. Hesperiphonapresents the only genus of the Cardueline sectionendemic to America and, at the sametime, the only true Haw-finch or Grosbeakof America; other American Haw-finches or Grosbeaksbeing Cardlnaline. 3. The nearestrelative of Hesperiphonais the Himalo-Tibetan Perissospiza,which showsthe south-Asianrelations of the former. To this correspondsthe range of Hesperiphonain America.

A PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENT OF NORTH AMERICAN GENERA OF FBINGILLIDAE AND ALLIED GROUPS. I give here, at the friendly suggestionof the Editor of 'The Auk,' Dr. Witruer Stone, an arrangementof the North American

For this interesting fact, I am indebted to Mr. Outram Bangs. 260 TheEvening Grosbeak. [AprilAuk

"Fringillidae"according to the systembased on internalanatomy which I have proposedin the Bull. B. O. C. for Nov. 1924. I wish to make it clear(hat, as my anatomicalstudies are not yet finished,I am not quitesure concerning the Dositlonof someof the genera. The generaor highergroups exclusively American are printe•] in capitals,groups not representedin Americaare in bracketsand those of which the skeleton has been examined are marked with an asterisk(*). Superfamily FR•NOmLO•EI Faro. Fringillidae [Subram.Fringillinae] Subfaro. Carduelinae •HESr•RIrUOMA,*Pinicola, *Pyrrhula, *Erythrina (--Car- podacus),*Loxia, *Leucosticte,*Aca•this, Astragalinus, *Spinus Subfamily *R•cuMom)r• ( *GuIRACA, *SPOROPHILA,TIARIS [Farm ] [Subfaro.Passerinae--Passer introduced into America] [Subf•m. Viduinae] [Subf•m. Ploceinae] [F•m. DrepanididaeJ Superr. EMBERIZOIDEI Faro. Emberizidae *Plectrophenax, *Calcarius, RHYNCHOPHANES,POOCAETES, *PASSERCULUS,AMMODRAMUS• PASSERHERBULUS, CHONDES- •ES, *ZoNOTRICHIA•*SPIZELLA, *JuNco• AMPHISPIZA• CAEA•AIMOPHILA, MELOSPIZA, I)ASSERELLA• *ARREMONOPS• *I)IPILO• OREOSPIZA•I)ASSERINA• *SPIZA• *CALAMOSPIZA. Farn. TANGARIDAE. Faro. ICTERIDAE Faro. COEREBIDAE Someremarks will be Opportune. As to the orderof the Emberizinegenera, ! have adoptedthat of the A. O. U. 'CheckList' only for the sakeof convenience;since for many generait doesnot corresponc]to their affinitiesas shown by their internal anatomy. Lox/ais nothingbut an adaptivelymodified Siskin. Leucostictehas nothing iu commonwith the genusMontifringilla where it has beenput by Sharpeand Dr. E. Harterr and which Vol.1925 XLII] I GeneralNotes. 261 belongsto the Passefinesubfamily of the Ploceidaein the senseof this arrangement. Cyanocompsais surely distinct from Guiraca,and is a near relative of the Red Cardinal(and still moreso, of Pheucticuz). Tiaris is most intimatdy related to the famous Galapagoes fin&es, Geosplza,presenting one instancemore of' the affinities betweenthe faunaof the Galapagoesand Antilles[It is to be noted that Certhideais a modifiedform of the same,Geospizine assem- blage,and not Mniotiltine.] Of Pas,erinaI am not yet sure;certainly, however, it standsin no near relation to Guiraca. . Calamospi•ais quite certainlyEmberizine, and not very remote from Junco. Spi•a is a very remarkabletype. It presentsno marked af- finities.with any of the American--at least, North Ameriean-- Emberizidaeand representsa connectinglink betweenEmberizidae and Icteridae. Its placingin one or the other of thesefamilies is rather a matter of convenience. It is certainly an ancient,rather isolatedgenus. I agreewith the suggestionmade by Mr. O. Bangs duringour discussionsconcerning the affinitiesof Spiza, that its very archaic, intermediate character may explain the evident retreatof this genusin recenttimes, manifested by the restriction in the rangeof S. americana,and by the total extinctionof another species,S. townsendi. Mus. Comp.Zoology, Cambridge, Mas•.

GENERAL NOTES ß Notes on the Black S•,m•er, in Ms•ue.--That there was an ir- ruptionof Black Skimmers(Rynchops nigra) reachingthe shoresof the Gulf of Maine the last few daysof Augustand earlySeptember, 1924, is a fact that has been chronicled. The following definite instancesof the recentoccurrence of the speciesin the Statehave been handed to the writer for permanentpreservation. Mr. E. B. Sawyerof Jonespor•writes that aftera "southernhurricane passedus off shore"three Black Skimmersappeared the last few daysof Augustat SandyRiver Beachabout three milesfrom Jonespor•. They remainedin the vicinityfor severaldays andwere never seen to feedor to