FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 319 



habits are identical with those of the common redpoll. Both forms 

 are resident, making only a partial migration into the interior in the 

 severest weather. 



528. Acanthis linaria (Linn.). REDPOLL. 



Adult male in breeding plumage. Chin patch and feathers around bill 

 blackish ; crown crimson ; throat, sides, and rump more or less 

 washed with pink or crimson ; rest of under parts white, sides 

 streaked with dusky ; upper parts streaked, dark brown and 

 huffy, lighter but streaked on rump, rump washed with pink ; 

 bill horn color, dusky at tip. Adult male in winter plumage : F - ^ 

 much lighter, wing bands more or less buffy, pink paler ; bill 

 light yellow, black at tip. Adult female: similar to the male, but pink of 

 under parts replaced by buffy or whitish ; seasonal difference same as in 

 male. Young : like adults, but without pink or red, crown streaked and 

 sides and wing bands more or less buffy. Male: length (skins) 4.31-5.32, 

 wing 2.78-3.01, tail 1.91-2.29, bill .31-.38. Female : length (skins) 4.29- 

 5.43, wing 2.76-3.00, tail 1.99-2.30, bill .30-.39. 



Distribution. Breeds in the -northern parts of the northern hemisphere ; 

 south irregularly in winter, in North America as far as California, Mis- 

 souri, and Alabama. 



Nest. In bushes or small trees, bulky, made of twigs, straws, and 

 feathers. Eggs : 2 to 5, pale bluish green, speckled, chiefly around larger 

 end, with reddish brown, sometimes mixed with a few black specks or 

 lines. 



Food. Buds and weed seed. 



The redpolls are common in Colorado, from November to March, 

 from the plains to 10,000 feet. Prof. Cooke says they remain high in 

 the mountains, even when the temperature is thirty degrees below 

 zero, which does not seem strange, as most of them winter in Alaska. 

 In spring, Mr. Nelson tells us, "they are beautiful objects, with 

 their bright rosy hues and fluffy plumage. On warm sunshiny days 

 during April they come familiarly up to the very windows and 

 doors, and peer about with an odd mixture of confidence and curios- 

 ity, examining everything and scarcely deigning to move aside as 

 the people pass back and forth." After the nesting season, he says, 

 "they come trooping about, young and old, in large parties, with 

 great confidence and a peculiar pertness, taking possession of the 

 premises and using the roofs and fences for convenient perches, 

 making excursions thence to whatever point appears likely to yield 

 food, or chasing each other playfully about." Through July and 

 August they are extremely abundant in Alaska, but by the end of 

 September the majority have left the coast, most of them going into 

 the interior, where they brave the severest weather. 



GENUS ASTRAGALINTJS. 



General Characters. Bill conical, acute ; wing long and pointed ; tail 

 emarginate ; tarsus as short or shorter than middle toe with claw. 



