LESSER REDrOLE. 565 



have seen them in August, the same author says, scat- 

 tered over a tract overgrown with thistles, the seeds of 

 which they picked out precisely in the same manner as 

 the Goldfinch. On such occasions, unless they have pre- 

 viously been shot at or pursued, they take little heed of 

 approaching danger, so that one may easily approach 

 them." This habit of unsuspecting confidence has been 

 noticed by other naturalists. The Eev. W. T. Bree re- 

 marks,* " I well remember, when a very young sportsman, 

 or rather a young carrier of a gun, falling in with a flock 

 of Redpoles feeding on the seeds of the alder ; after firing 

 at them, I found that they returned to the very same tree 

 (though I was standing under it) before I could reload my 

 gun. This they did many times, and with a perseverance 

 which I shall not easily forget." Mr. Audubon, in the 

 fourth volume of his Ornithological Biography, very re- 

 cently published, says of the Lesser Redpole, " they were 

 in small parties of seven or eight, apparently formed by 

 the members of the same family ; and although several 

 of these groups were around me, they did not intermingle 

 until fired at, when they all simultaneously rose on wing, 

 mixed together, and after performing several short evolu- 

 tions, returned to the same bushes, separated into families, 

 and resumed their occupations. When alighted they 

 were quite unsuspecting, and so heedless as to allow a 

 close approach, scarcely regarding my presence, but cling- 

 ing to the branches, dexterously picking out the seeds of 

 the alder cones, and occasionally coming to the ground 

 after some which had dropped. Few birds exhibit a more 

 affectionate disposition than the Little Redpoll, and it was 

 pleasing to see several on a twig feeding each other by 

 passing a seed from bill to bill, one individual sometimes 

 receiving from his two neighbours at the same time/'' 



* The Naturalist, vol. iii. p. 452. 



