MEALY REDPOLL. 



PASSEMES. 



133 

 FRIXGILLlDsE. 



Linota linaeia (Linnaeus *.) 



THE MEALY EEDPOLL. 



Linota canescens t. 



Linota J. — Bill hard, nearly conical, but slightly swollen ; the point slender 

 and sharp. Nostrils basal, lateral,- round, and hidden more or less by projecting 

 and recurved plumes. Gape nearly straight. Wings long, somewhat pointed ; 

 the first primary finely attenuated and so small as to seem wanting, the second, 

 third, and fourth neaidy equal, and either the second or third the longest in the 

 wing. Tail rather long and forked. Tarsus short, scutellate in front, covered 

 at the side by a single plate. Toes stout. Claws moderate. 



The Mealy Eedpoll, figured above, has been regarded 

 by some ornithologists as merely a large race or variety of 

 the Lesser Eedpoll, the well-known British bird next to be 

 described ; but convenience requires the treatment of the two 

 as entitled to distinction, and, as will presently appear, it is 

 the smaller and with us the commoner form that, if they arc 

 accounted inseparable, should from its more limited geogra- 



* Fringilla linwria, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 322 (1766). 



| Linaria canescens, Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 193 (part xi. Nov. 1834). 



i Bonaparte, Sagg. Distr. metod. Anim. Vertebr. Aggiunte e Correzioni, p. 



1 11 (1832). 



