258 LESSER RED-POLL. 



feet of them, as they were busily engaged in picking the seeds* 

 of some garden plants, we can with confidence assert that they 

 all had the red patch on the crown; but there were very few 

 which had the red rump and breast; the young males, it is pro- 

 bable, are not thus marked until the spring; and the females are 

 destitute of that ornament altogether. 



The Lesser Red-poll is five inches and a quarter in length, 

 and eight inches and a half in breadth; the bill is pale yellow, 

 ridged above and below with dark horn colour, the upper man- 

 dible projecting somewhat over the lower at the tip; irides dark 

 hazel; the nostrils are covered with recumbent, hair-like fea- 

 thers of drab colour; a line of brown extends from the eyes, and 

 encircles the base of the bill, forming in some specimens a 

 patch below the chin; the crown is ornamented with a pretty 

 large spot of deep shining crimson; the throat, breast and rump, 

 stained with the same, but of a more delicate red; the belly is 

 of a very pale ash, or dull white; the sides are streaked with 

 dusky; the whole upper parts are brown or dusky, the plumage 

 edged with yellowish white and pale ash, the latter most predo- 

 minant near the rump; wings and tail dusky, the latter is forked, 

 and consists of twelve feathers edged with white; the primaries 

 are very slightly tipped and edged with white; the secondaries 

 more so; the greater and lesser coverts are also tipped with* 

 white, forming the bars across the wings; thighs cinereous; legs 

 and feet black; hind claw considerably hooked, and longer than 

 the rest. 



The female is less bright in her plumage above; and her un- 

 der parts incline more to an ash colour; the spot on her crown 

 is of a golden crimson, or reddish saffron. 



One male specimen was considerably larger than the rest; it 

 measured five inches and three quarters in length, and nine 

 inches and a quarter in breadth; the breast and rump were 

 tawny; its claws were uncommonly long, the hind one mea- 

 sured nearly three-eighths of an inch ; and the spot on the crown 

 was of a darker hue than that of the rest. 



