THE LESSER REDPOLE 



L^NOTA RUFESCENS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : Resident, breeding but 

 locally in the south of England ; increasingly abundant 

 northwards and in Scotland. It is commonest in summer 

 in the north of Ireland, rarer in the south of that 

 country. It is much more widely distributed in autumn 

 and winter. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : It is only very exceptionally that the Lesser 

 Redpole breeds anywhere within the Metropolitan area. 

 It is recorded as having done so at Wimbledon. In 

 autumn and winter, however, it is by no means uncommon, 

 although irregular in appearance and somewhat local. I 

 have seen this bird in St. James's Park ; and I well re- 

 member a small flock which the late Henry Seebohm 

 and myself stood and watched for some time as we were 

 crossing the Green Park one morning in the late autumn 

 of 1 88 1. He told me that the bird was frequently seen at 

 Dulwich, where he then resided. I have also records from 

 Battersea Park, Clapham, Peckham, Kensington Gardens, 

 Regent's Park, and Kilburn. The bird also visits the 

 districts of Hampstead, Highgate, Kingsbury, Wembley, 

 Twyford, Wormwood Scrubbs, Ealing, Acton, Osterley, 

 Kew, Chiswick, Richmond, Wimbledon, Tooting, Dul- 

 wich, Greenwich, Wanstead, and Epping. It is scarcely 

 necessary to mention the extreme outlying suburbs, to 

 which the bird is a more numerous visitor still. 



Like the Siskin, the Lesser Redpole lives in flocks during 

 autumn and winter, and it is then that this small Finch 

 is met with in the area of London. Its habits closely 

 resemble those of the Siskin, but the bird shows more 

 partiality for the ground, and may frequently be seen 



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