398 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 pabt i 



* * *, the vegetation richer and taller. * * * The presence of 

 willow or other shrub of some size is indispensable to it. In the 

 valleys and in the coastal areas, which have a more rough climate, all 

 plants trail along the ground and do not form actual bushes." 



Of its status on Southampton Island, George M. Sutton (1932) 

 reports: "Hornemann's Redpoll does not, so far as I have been able 

 to determine, nest anywhere on Southampton. It is irregularly 

 common as a migrant, being about equally numerous in autumn and 

 spring. * * * During migration it associates with all the other 

 species of redpolls which are to be found in this region, so that it is 

 sometimes difficult to identify the birds, as they fly about together. 

 It lingers later in the fall than the other redpolls, however, and 

 apparently returns a little in advance of them in the spring. It is 

 rarely seen even in mid-winter when it feeds on such seeds as have not 

 been buried under the snow." 



J. Dewey Soper (1946) observes: "As in other parts of Baflan 

 Island, Hornemann's Redpoll does not appear to inhabit Foxe Penin- 

 sula during the summer months. In the autumn, however, these 

 birds begin to make their appearance in varying numbers, usually in 

 small flocks, but groups of upwards of one hundred individuals have 

 been noted. * * * j^ occurs, apparently, only as an irregular 

 migrant on Baffin Island." 



Nesting. — Salomonsen (1950) briefly outlines its nesting habits as 

 follows: "The nest is placed on hUl-slopes in low shrub of willow or 

 dwarf-birch * * * , or in crevices in the rock covered by trailing 

 twigs of willow. * * * The nest is built of dry grass, rootlets and 

 willow down * * * . Egg-laying takes place from the end of May 

 to the end of June, as a rule about 1 June. Eggs, 'probably of this 

 race' measure on an average 18.2X13 mm (14 eggs; Jourdain). 

 Clutch-size: Up to 7 eggs recorded. Incubation lasts 11 days, 

 fledging 11-12 days * * * . The earliest fledgings have been ob- 

 served 16 June * * * . After the breeding-period the adult birds 

 with their young wander about for some time before they start the 

 migration." 



Food. — The only report on the food of Hornemann's redpoll is that 

 of Manniche (1910), who identified seeds of Luzula and various 

 Cyperaceae in the stomach contents of birds he examined in northeast 

 Greenland. 



Voice. — Again according to Salomonsen (1950), its "song and other 

 notes are exactly similar to those of the Greenland [greater] Redpoll." 



Fall and winter. — To quote Salomonsen (1950) once more: "Horne- 

 mann's Redpoll is resident in Greenland and only rarely leaves the 

 country. The northernmost parts of its breeding-area are vacated 

 in the autumn, but it is known to winter as far north as Thule District 



