LAND BIRDS. 



475 



is November 9, 1889, 

 on which date one 

 was killed on the 

 Spectacle Reef Light- 

 house in northern 

 Lake Huron. In 

 northern Wisconsin it 

 has been observed as 

 early as October 28. 

 It does not visit the 

 south and south- 

 eastern counties of 

 Michigan so often as 

 the northern parts of 

 the state, probably 

 b e c a u s e it finds 

 abundance of food 

 and suitable condi- 

 tions in the north. 



It feeds to a large 

 extent on the seeds of the birches and alders, but also attacks the cones 

 of the tamarack and arbor- vita3, and probably to some extent those of 

 other pines. It also feeds freely on grass-seeds and weed-seeds, but takes 

 to the bare ground with some reluctance. Not infrequently it is found 

 in company with crossbills and has been known to follow the latter and 

 extract seeds from the cones torn open by the stronger bird. 



Apparently it has little or no song even at the nesting season, though 

 one observer speaks of a faint warble and another of a "twittering." 



The nest, found only in arctic and subarctic regions, is built of various 

 grasses, plant fibres and moss, lined with feathers and hair, and placed 

 in low bushes, alders, willows, etc., usually but a foot or two above the 

 ground. The eggs are three to five, bluish white finely spotted with brown, 

 and average about .69 by .48 inches (Ridgw.). 



Redpoll, 

 gj. Little, Brown & Co. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



"Adult: Top of head bright red (usually crimson), and a dusky spot covering chin 

 and upper part of throat; wing exceeding tail by more than length of tarsus; rump distinctly 

 streaked; sides distinctly, often broadly and heavily, streaked with dusky; under tail- 

 coverts with very distinct dusky mesial streaks; imier webs of tail-feathers very slightly, 

 if at all, edged with white; plumage in general darker, with darker markings preyaihng 

 on upper parts, tlie lower parts never entirely white; adult males with chest and sides of 

 breast deep madder-pink; bill in winter yellow, tipped with black. Females lack the red 

 of breast and sides but have the red cap. Young of both sexes are without red on crown 

 or elsewhere; whole head streaked with dusky ^and grayish or brownish white, the latter 

 color prevailing on under portions; otherwise much as in adult female, but plumage of 

 much softer, more 'woolly' texture, and markings less sharply defined" (RidgAvay). 



" Length 4.50 to 5 inches, with proportionally longer and more acute l)ill. Male: Wing 

 2.80 to 3.05 inches; tail 2.20 to 2.50; exposed culmen .32 to .38; depth of bill at base .22 

 to .27; tarsus .55 to .60. Female: Wing 2.75 to 2.90; tail 2.20 to 2.40; exposed culmen 

 .30 to .37; deptli of bill at base .20 to .25; tarsus .55 to .60" (Ridgway). 



