172 RETROSPECTIVE RRMARKS. 



The great variations in the plumage of the common starling are 

 governed by fixed laws, and quite uninfluenced by season. The bill of 

 the male does not acquire its yellow colour till about six months after 

 its first moult; that of the female, I think, not until the second or 

 third year. I have shot both male and female starlings with yellow 

 bills, at all seasons of the year. Great numbers are always brought 

 into the London markets during the months of January and February, 

 where they may be procured in almost every state of plumage ; some 

 beautifully glossed, with hardly a spot on the under parts ; others 

 speckled all the way down ; some with yellow bills, others without. 

 The females are most readily distinguished by the invariably larger size 

 of the spots upon the belly. 



T. C, is evidently unacquainted with the true greater redpole, which 

 is a A'ery different species from the common linnet, either in its summer 

 or winter dress. It appears to be a rare bird in collections; and though 

 it visits us occasionally in considerable flocks, yet its appearance is very 

 uncertain, many years sometimes elapsing between its visits. Such is 

 the case at present. About six years ago, the London bird-catchers 

 took vast numbers of greater redpoles, but since that time 1 have not 

 been able to procure a single specimen, though the common species has 

 been abundant. I learned that half a dozen of them were taken last 

 winter in the neighbourhood of Croydon; and this is the only instance 

 of their capture which has come to my knowledge since the season in 

 which they so abounded. The common red-pole and the twite are in 

 these parts extremely regular in their appearance, and the linnet is 

 more or less plentiful with us throughout the year. The greater red- 

 pole very closely resembles the common species in form, and in the 

 markings of its plumage; but is considerably larger, exceeding the 

 twite in size, and the feathers on the back are margined with dull 

 white, or stone colour, whence it is termed by the bird-dealers the stone 

 redpole, in contradistinction to the common species. Mr. Selby is 

 consequently mistaken in applying this name to the common or lesser 

 red-pole linnet (Linaria pusilla ; Fringilla linaria, Auct.). 



The only distinct notice of this bird which I can find in the works 

 of the various British authors which I have consulted, is contained in a 

 note affixed by Mr. Selby to his description of the lesser redpole. " A 

 large variety of this species," says that gentleman, "is noticed by Tem- 

 minck, and which is sometimes met with in this country. ***** 

 In size it nearly equalsthe common linnet, but the markings-and colour 

 are those of the lesser redpole." To this he adds, in the edition of 



