228 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



in the winter of 1863^ as "a male bii'd, with, a band 

 of white feathers extending quite round its neck, 

 having the appearance of a collar at a distance." I 

 once found a nest of the brown or grey linnet, as this 

 bird is respectively called in its summer and winter 

 plumage, in a small bush on Smiingham broad, com- 

 posed entirely, inside and out, of moss gathered from 

 the surrounding marshes. Nothing but the eggs could 

 have identified it as belonging to the common linnet, 

 the bhd having in this instance so entirely discarded 

 its usual style of nesting, and contented itself simply 

 with the materials nearest at hand. 



LINOTA CANESCENS (Gould). 

 MEALY EEDPOLE. 



The Mealy Eedpole can scarcely be called an annual 

 winter visitant, although flocks of more or less extent 

 may be met with in several consecutive seasons; but 

 now and then, from some cause not easily explainable, 

 their total absence is remarked upon by our bird- 

 catchers, and as I have frequently experienced when 

 most wanting a specimen to supply some loss in my 

 aviary, not a bird has been netted the whole winter 

 through. Their appearance and numbers also, as with 

 the more common species, cannot always be accounted 

 for by the severity of the weather (in this country 

 at least), either at the time of, or subsequent to, their 

 arrival on our coasts. In 1847 and 1855, the latter 

 a very sharp winter, they were extremely plentiful ; 

 and in 1861, from the middle of October to the 

 close of the year, probably the largest flocks ever 

 noticed in this district, were distributed through- 

 out the county. Hundreds of them were netted by 



