260 THE MEALY REDPOLE. 



mice and Goldcrests. I have also seen them in August scattered over 

 a tract overgrown with thistles, the seeds of which they picked out in 

 precisely the same manner as the Goldfinch. On such occasions, 

 unless they have been previously shot at or pursued, they take little 

 heed of the approach of danger. 



THE MEALY REDPOLE (Linaria borealis). This is a very 

 elegant bird, in length about five inches, with a richly 

 diversified plumage ; the crown of the head is tinged with 

 red, not very deep in shade, and the same colour, gradually 

 becoming lighter in tint, extends over all the light parts of 

 the sides of the neck and breast, and fades into a pale 

 peach blossom on the flanks, and that again into white on 

 the belly and under the tail coverts : the rump and upper tail 

 coverts, which are pale yellowish brown in the winter, also 

 assume a red tinge in the breeding season, and the same 

 colour appears but very faintly on the rump, breast, and 

 flanks of the female. Many of the feathers are edged with 

 white, and this, with the sprinkling of grey here and there, 

 give that mealy appearance which has gained for the bird 

 its distinctive appellation ; it is also sometimes called the 

 Stone Eedpole ; Mr. Gould calls it the Mealy Linnet, and 

 says, ' Whether this species is truly a native of Europe, or 

 whether those which occur in our island are arrivals from 

 the northern portions of the American continent, is a matter 

 of doubt ; true it is that the specimens brought home by 

 Dr. Richardson, which furnished the description given in 

 the " Fauna Borealis Americana," are strictly identical with 

 the bird before us.' 



Some confusion seems to exist with regard to the identity 

 of this species, which is a rare visitant in Britain ; it has 

 been considered as identical with the Lesser Redpole. But 

 Yarrell says that the London dealers in birds, who know it 

 well, declare it to be distinct from this bird ; he says that 

 1 in the vicinity of London it is rare even to those who, 

 attaining their living by bird-catching, trap hundreds of 

 dozens of birds in the course of the year. The Lesser 

 Redpole, on the contrary, is very common.' 



Yarrell tells us that in the museum at Saffron Walden 

 there is a male of the Mealy Redpole, which was killed iu 

 that neighbourhood in May 1856, and one shot by Mr. 



