416 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



individual which was brought slowly inside without unduly disturbing 

 its companions * * *. If an individual displayed some nervousness, 

 instead of attempting to capture it by hand, I gently shoved it toward 

 a trap entrance." 



John V. Dennis also wrote about the remarkable tameness of these 

 birds: "Even as I was collecting bu-ds in a gathering cage, birds still 

 free sought to enter the traps. Some of the outsiders would peck 

 through the mesh of the gathering cage at the birds imprisoned within. 

 Often, individuals would calmly feed within the trap while every 

 effort was being made to scare them into leaving through the exit. 



"While awaiting their turn to be banded, the birds in the burlap- 

 covered gathering cage were noisy and persisted in pecking one 

 another. But if the burlap was suddenly removed the occupants 

 would freeze in position and remain absolutely silent for close to 

 a minute." 



W. C. Dilger (1957) found that no long period of habituation was 

 necessary in his captive flock. Three days sufficed to work out the 

 rigid social hierarchy which he considers t3^pical of this species. 

 The birds were so highly social that their various activities tended to 

 be performed in concert. During the breeding season, however, males 

 would not tolerate one another at less than 10 centimeters, whereas 

 females permitted the approach of other females to about 4 centimeters 

 before asserting their rank. Contacts between the sexes were some- 

 what intermediate. 



An observation on feeding behavior made by William Brewster 

 (1936) suggests the redpoll's versatility. The birds involved were 

 feeding on the ground, pouncing with both feet, kicking and tossing 

 leaves to get at fallen birch seed, very much as fox sparrows do. 

 Charles H. Blake (in litt.) writes that, when feeding on seeds in catkins 

 of gray birch, the birds normally perch on the twig bearing the 

 catkin, steadying the catkin by grasping the twig and the catkin base 

 in one foot. 



The winter of 1947 brought some 300 redpolls to Hawk Mountain 

 Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, where they are usually rare. Maurice 

 Broun, writing to Mr. Bent about this visitation, reported that, 

 "One Sunday in January, about 50 of the little birds were bathing 

 and wading in the icy water of the tiny brook by our house; the 

 temperature was 38° F., and there was much snow and ice on the 

 ground. After a thorough bath the bathers flew up to an apple 

 tree where they shook and flashed their feathers, chattering con- 

 tentedly in low tones. These are the only birds that I have ever 

 seen bathing — really soaking — in mid-winter." Palmer (1949) gives 

 an interesting account of redpolls bathing in wet snow on a roof, as 

 reported by Mrs. E. A. Anthony of Mount Desert Island, Maine: 



