68 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



the dead leaves for seeds or insects without exhibiting any 

 alarm at my presence. In the trees it is difficult to distinguish 

 the forms, but the habit of swinging under the twigs exposes 

 the rump and wing bars to view, and these in a really typical 

 Mealy are white, whereas in the Lesser they are buff or tinged 

 with pink. The Mealy is the larger bird and is greyer, but 

 certain individuals are puzzling, especially as the measurements 

 overlap. I have examined birds with grey back and rump, but 

 with buff wing bars, or with dark rump and bars and very white 

 edges to the feathers of the back. These were shot out of 

 migratory flocks. Mealy : Length, 5 ins. Wing, 3 ins. Tarsus, 

 •6 in. Lesser : Length, 4-25 ins. Wing, 275 ins. Tarsus, 

 •55 in. 



The Greenland Redpoll is a still larger bird with a heavier 

 bill, grey like the Mealy, and Holboll's only differs in the size 

 of the bill. 



Hornemann's Redpoll. Acmithis hornemanni 

 (Holboll). 



Horneman's Redpoll has two forms ; A. h. honiemanni{Y{o\h.) 

 breeds in Greenland and winters in North America, and the 

 Hoary Redpoll, A. h. exilipes (Coues), nests in high latitudes in 

 Europe, Asia and America and winters further south. The first 

 is the larger bird, and both differ from the Mealy in having 

 white unstriped or unspotted rumps when adult. The distinc- 

 tions are slight and are only appreciated by experts, and many 

 differ in opinion about all the forms of Redpoll. Hornemann's 

 Redpoll has been noticed on a few occasions in Durham, York- 

 shire, the Shetlands and Fair Island, and the Hoary twice in 

 Yorkshire and once on Fair Island ; but some examples of the 

 former have not been critically examined. Hornemann's 

 Redpoll : Length, 5'5 ins. Wing, 3'3 ins. Tarsus, 7 in. 

 Hoary Redpoll : Length, 5 ins. Wing, 3 ins. Tarsus, "55 in. 



