386 LINARIA MINOR. 



which they picked out precisely in the same manner as the 

 Goldfinch. On such occasions, unless they have previously 

 been shot at or pursued, they take little heed of approaching 

 danger, so that one may easily approach them, or even go so 

 near as to snare them with a noose on a long stick or fishing- 

 rod. 



In many parts of Scotland, and in the north of England, the 

 Redpoll remains all the year, breeding in the hilly districts 

 among the brushwood that skirts the flanks of the mountains, 

 or covers the margins of streams in rocky dells. Not having 

 met with its nest, however, I take the liberty of borrowing Mr. 

 Selby's account of it. " It is built in a bush or low tree (such 

 as willow, alder, or hazel), of moss and the stalks of dry grass, 

 intermixed with down from the catkin of the willow, which 

 also forms the lining, and renders it a particularly soft and 

 warm receptacle for the eggs and young. From this substance 

 being a constant material of the nest, it follows that the young 

 are produced late in the season, and are seldom able to fly 

 before the end of June or the beginning of July. The eggs 

 are four or five in number ; their colour pale bluish-green, 

 6j)otted with orange brown, principally towards the larger end," 



Young. — The young birds in November, when their first 

 moult is completed, are as follows : — The upper mandible is 

 greyish-brown, the lower dull yellow with the point dusky. 

 The tarsi are light bro^^Ti, the toes darker, the claws dusky. 

 The loral space, a narrow frontal band, and the reversed 

 feathers covering the nostrils, are dull blackish-browTi. The 

 feathers on the top of the head are dark brown, but Avith yel- 

 lowish-red shining edges. The upper parts are streaked with 

 dusky brown and dull light yellowish-red, of which latter are 

 two broad bands on the wing-coverts. The wings and tail are 

 dusky, edged with yellowish-brown. There are indications of 

 black on the throat, concealed however by the light-coloured 

 tips of the feathers. The cheeks, sides of the neck, fore-neck, 

 and sides of the body are streaked with dusky and light yel- 

 lowish-brown, the middle of the breast, the abdomen, and 

 lower tail-coverts brownish-white. 



