270 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



drops. They are continually in motion, with a jingling 

 twitter and occasional mew, and suddenly, when dis- 

 turbed, go off with a loud jingle like the motion of a 

 whole bag of nuts. 



March 5, 1853. F. Brown * showed me to-day some 

 lesser redpolls which he shot yesterday. Thej^ turn out 

 to be my falsely-called chestnut-frontleted bird of the 

 winter. " Linaria minor, Ray. Lesser Redpoll Linnet. 

 From Pennsylvania and New Jersey to Maine, in win- 

 ter ; inland to Kentucky. Breeds in Maine, Nova 

 Scotia,^ Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Fur Coun- 

 tries." — Audubon's Synopsis. They have a sharp bill, 

 black legs and claws, and a bright-crimson crown or 

 frontlet, in the male reaching to the base of the bill, 

 with, in his case, a delicate rose or carmine on the 

 breast and rump. Though this is described by Nuttall 

 as an occasional visitor in the winter, it has been the 

 prevailing bird here this winter. 



Dec. 19, 1854. Off Clamshell I heard and saw a large 

 flock of Fringilla linaria over the meadow. . . . Sud- 

 denly they turn aside in their flight and dash across 

 the river to a large white birch fifteen rods off, which , 

 plainly they had distinguished so far. I afterward saw 

 many more in the Potter swamp up the river. They 

 were commonly brown or dusky above, streaked with 

 yellowish white or ash, and more or less white or ash 

 beneath. Most had a crimson crown or frontlet, and a 

 few a crimson neck and breast, very handsome. Some 



^ [Frank Brown, of Concord, who made a collection of mounted birds.] 

 2 [There are no authentic records of the bird's breeding in Maine or 

 Nova Scotia.] 



