72 THE FINCHES 



incubates (Brehm ; C. Jex in the Zoologisches Garten, 1876, p. 217). Period of 

 incubation 12-14 days. Two broods. [F. c. R. J. F. B. K.] 



5. Food. Seeds, buds. The young are fed, according to Bailly, first on 

 digested and regurgitated buds and seeds, afterwards on macerated seeds and 

 fresh buds. In captivity " there is a difficulty in rearing the young, as in the 

 earlier stages they appear to require aphides" (H. Saunders, Manual). Both 

 parents share in feeding them (Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie; A. Ellison in the Zoologist, 

 1887, p. 338). In captivity, however, the hen alone has been observed to per- 

 form this task (Zoologisches Garten, 1876, p. 217 ; 1890, p. 221). [F. B. K.] 



6. Song Period. All the year (Zander, Vogel Mecklenburgs). 



LESSER-BEDPOLL [Linota ftammea rufescens (Vieillot). Red-linnet, 

 reddy, rose-linnet, red-cap, chivey, chippet-linet, French-linnet. French, 

 cabaret, petite linotte ; German, kleiner Birkenzeisig]. 



1. Description. Recognised by the black lores and chin, the buff wing band, 

 the red on the forehead, crown, breast, and rump, and the dusky striated brown 

 back. After the autumn moult the red on the breast is obscured by brown, while 

 the brown of the beak becomes wax yellow. Length 4J in. [114 mm.]. (PL 12.) 

 The female has the red only on the forehead and crown, a very small area of black 

 on the throat. The young lack the red altogether, as well as the black on the lores 

 and throat ; they have the head, neck, and back distinctly grey, thickly covered 

 with dusky striations ; the underparts are greyish white, with sharply defined 

 dusky striations on the breast and flanks, [w. p. P.] 



2. Distribution. Our native lesser-redpoll is confined as a breeding species 

 to the British Isles, the Alps, and probably the Carpathians, but only at fairly 

 high levels towards the southern extremity of this range. In the British Isles it 

 is local in the breeding season, especially in England, from the extreme south- 

 west of which it is almost entirely absent. It is more regularly distributed in 

 Ireland and Scotland, even to the outlying islands of the latter breeding regularly 

 in the Orkneys and some of the Inner Hebrides, and exceptionally in the Outer 

 Hebrides (cf. J. A. Harvie-Brown, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1902, p. 146), but not known 

 to have done so in Shetland. [A. L. T.] 



3. Migration. Except for local movements within our shores, the species 

 appears to be sedentary, not having been obtained at any of our light-stations. 

 [A. L. T.] 



