510 FUINGILLID.E. 



abundant for a time ; but not a single Lesser Redpole 

 scarcely was then to be got ; and Mr. Gould mentions that 

 in the year 1829, the Mealy Redpoles were again particu- 

 larly abundant, and were caught in great numbers. 



The best specimens I possess of this bird were given me 

 by my friend Mr. Henry Doubleday of Epping, who supplied 

 me also with the following observations. " During a visit to 

 Colchester in January 1886, I observed some Redpoles 

 feeding on the alder, in company with the Siskin. On 

 shooting some, they proved to be the Mealy Redpole, and I 

 am convinced were all of this species, as I could plainly see 

 their pale or nearly white rumps. A friend from Colchester 

 brought me a pair alive ; these I kept some time, and there 

 was certainly a difference in their note, being sharper ; but 

 as they had been kept some weeks with a number of Cana- 

 ries, I thought it possible that the Mealy Redpoles had 

 caught part of the Canary's note. When I was at Colches- 

 ter, I could form no opinion of the Mealy Redpole's note in 

 a wild state, from the continual chatter of the Siskins. In 

 Charles Lucian Bonaparte's Catalogue of the Birds of Eu- 

 rope and North America, three Redpoles are given, viz. our 

 common one, Linota linaria, Linota canescens, Mr. Gould's 

 plate of the Mealy Redpole being referred to for this species, 

 and Linota Borealis, which is stated to inhabit Europe ge- 

 nerally ; now I always thought that the Borealis of M. Tem- 

 minck was our Mealy Redpole. When skinning this bird, 

 the head has always appeared to me broader than that of the 

 common species ; but I am sorry that I have not a skull to 

 make the comparison, as I have had so few specimens of the 

 Mealy bird." This desideratum, in further proof of the dis- 

 tinction between this bird and our common Redpole, I am, 

 however, enabled to supply from another quarter. Mr. Pelerin, 

 a Naturalist, living in Great Russell Street, who has prepared 

 for himself an extensive collection of the crania and skeletons 



