518 FRINr,TT,LID K. 



" The Lesser Redpole Linnet was met witli wherever birch 

 copse occurred. Several were shot, but all appeared of the 

 common species, and none could be assigned to the larger 

 variety, or L. horealis.'''' This appears to me to be addi- 

 tional evidence that the larger, or Mealy Redpole, is a spe- 

 cies distinct from the smaller. I do not find a single record 

 of the !Mealy Redpole breeding in this country ; but the 

 nests and eggs of the Lesser Redpole may be obtained with- 

 out difficulty every season. The Rev. Mr. Low includes it 

 among the birds of the Orkneys, observing, that it builds in 

 Hoy, among the small shrubs and heath, frequenting the 

 farmyards in winter. 



Muller and Professor Nilsson say that this bird inhabits 

 Denmarlc and Scandinavia generally. Mr. Hcwitson saw it 

 in Norway ; and Captain W. Scoresby, in his account of the 

 Arctic Regions, says, " on our approach to Spitzbergen, 

 several Lesser Redpoles alighted on different parts of the 

 ship, and were so wearied apparently with being on the wing, 

 though our distance from the land was not above ten miles, 

 that they allowed themselves to be taken alive. How this 

 little creature subsists, and why a bird of such apparent deli- 

 cacy should resort to sucli a barren and gelid country, are 

 questions of some curiosity and difficulty. It must be mi- 

 gratory ; and yet how such a small animal, incapable of 

 taking the water, can perform the journey from Spitzbergen 

 to a milder climate, without jDcrishing by the way, is difficult 

 to conceive. Supposing it to take advantage of a favourable 

 gale of wind, it must still be at least ten hours on the wing 

 before it could reach the nearest part of Norway, an exertion 

 of which one Avould imagine it to be totally incapable." 



So hardy is this species, that, according to Dr. Richardson, 

 it is a permanent resident in the Fur Countries of North 

 America, where it may be seen in the coldest weather on the 

 banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among the reeds and 



