590 



diminutive Siskin. It is more especially a winter visitor 

 to the southern counties of England, appearing in small 

 flocks from Michaelmas till April ; but is not often seen in 

 the south of England in summer. It is at once distin- 

 guished from the Mealy Redpole, last described, by its 

 smaller size ; and though not attractive from its notes, 

 which are little more than a lively twitter, its sprightly 

 habits and engaging confidence render it a general fa- 

 vourite, since it is, of all the small birds, one of those that 

 are the most easily tamed. This species will breed in con- 

 finement ; and W. Rayner, Esq., of Uxbridge, sent me word 

 that a Lesser Redpole in his aviary made her nest, and laid 

 five eggs during the summer of 1838. 



In some of the northern counties of England, and in 

 Scotland particularly, this little bird is resident all the 

 year ; and of its habits, Mr. Selby says, that " during the 

 summer it retires to the underwood that covers the bases 

 of our mountains and hills, and that often fringes the banks 

 of our precipitous streams, in which sequestered situation 

 it breeds. The nest is built in a bush or low tree (such 

 as the willow, alder, or hazel), of moss, and the stalks of 

 dry grass, intermixed with down from the catkin of the 

 willow, which also forms the lining, and renders it a par- 

 ticularly soft and warm receptacle for the eggs and young. 

 From this substance being a constant material of the nest, 

 it follows that the young are produced late in the season, 

 and are seldom able to fly before the end of June, or the 

 beginning of July. The eggs are four or five in number ; 

 the colour pale bluish green, spotted with orange brown, 

 principally towards the larger end." I have received the 

 nest from Durham ; and Mr. J. D. Salmon, formerly of 

 Thetford, very kindly sent me two nests of the Lesser 

 Redpole, which were taken in 1835 and 1836 in the vi- 

 cinity of Halifax in Yorkshire. The eggs are seven lines 



