dark reddish-brown, or almost black, spots and specks,
besides blotches of pale purplish-red. Some specimens are
not unlike eggs of the Song-Thrush, though void of any
gloss, and, of course, much smaller.
There are several appearances recorded of what seems to have
been this species, under various names*, in Germany towards
the end of the last century, but these have to be regarded with
suspicion ; and, though more than one example occurred, says
Bernhard Meyer (on the information of G. A. Germann) at Dor-
pat in 1803, the first about which no doubt can be said to exist
is that given by J. F. Naumann, who states that in 1805 he
saw, in the collection of Count von Mathuschka at Breslau,
a cock-bird—one of a pair killed near that town—which was
afterwards transferred to the Berlin Museum. The positive
assurance of so excellent an authority as the same Naumann,
that he himself met with this species breeding on Sylt in
1819, is of course entitled to all respect; but it is yet to be
observed that not only must the extension of the bird’s range
so far to the westward at that time be considered very extraordinary,
but also that, though he was told it was not rare
and had for many years bred there f , it has never since been
known to visit that island and only once to occur on the adjoining
mainland!. Still further its breeding at all in a locality so
unlike that which it elsewhere seems to affect is by no means
the least surprising thing in connexion with the incident.
Elsewhere in Western Europe this species has only been
observed as a wanderer. It has of course occurred in
Heligoland. An example is said to have been obtained
near Tournay, another near Abbeville, and a third at Lille,
Sept. 17th 1849; but it would seem to occur much more
frequently in the south of France—the young especially
* Much confusion has arisen between the present bird and the Fringilla flam,-
mea of Linnaeus, a very doubtful species founded on one of Rudbeck’s paintings,
which it is now almost impossible to dispel.
f It seems possible that Naumann’s informant may have mistaken a highly-
coloured cock Linnet (Linota cannabina) for this species, but of course he himself
was incapable of such a blunder.
I This, according to Herr Rohweder (Vog. Schleswig-Holstein’s, p. 9), was at
Poppenbiill in Eiderstedt.
appearing there almost every August or September, and has
even been recorded from Spain. Italy has long been known
to be within the range of its autumnal visits, and it appears
to have reached Malta. In Germany it is said to have been
once found breeding in the Queiss valley among the Silesian
mountains. Further to the northward it has been met with
on Gottland, and even, it is said, in East Finmark, where it
is reported to have bred, but possibly further information on
this point is required. However in Finland it is now recognized
as an annual summer-visitant so high as Kuopio,
where a pair or two may be observed every year, and further
to the southward it seems to breed regularly, as at Helsingfors,
near which town Mr. Dresser procured its nest and eggs,
July 3rd 1858.
Passing over the Russian Empire, throughout which it
seems to be found from Poland to Kamchatka, as well as
the various parts of Central Asia that are suited to its
habits, the Scarlet Grosbeak occurs in Persia, and is a
regular visitant from October to April to the greater portion
of India, extending to Assam and Arracan. In many
localities it appears numerously, inhabiting alike gardens,
groves and jungles, but in the extreme south it chiefly frequents
bamboo-thickets. At the same season it also occurs in
China and especially abounds there during the spring-passage.
In the fully-coloured cock the bill is yellowish-brown,
lightest on the lower mandible: the irides are brown: the
top of the head glossy carmine-red; lores and ear-coverts
reddish-brown; nape, back and upper wing-coverts rich
brown-lake, the feathers being reddish-brown at the base
narrowly fringed with light rufous-brown; the other wing-
coverts reddish-brown, broadly tipped and edged with light red
so as to form two bars of that colour across the wing; wing-
quills dusky brown edged outwardly with light red, which passes
into rufous on the primaries ; rump and upper tail-coverts
glossy carmine-red tinged with brown; tail-quills dusky
brown narrowly edged with light-red; chin and throat glossy
rose-red, deepening into carmine towards the tip of each
feather, and passing on the breast into a paler and duller
VOL. II. A A