Family Fringillidcz Redpoll. 1 1 7 



62. REDPOLL (Acanthias linaria.} 



Male : upper parts mottled dusky and flaxen ; wings and tail 

 brown ; wing with two white cross bars ; forehead and breast, 

 and sometimes rump, rosy ; rest of under parts white, some- 

 what streaked with dusky. Bill small, conical, horn-colored ; 

 feet dark. Bird considerably smaller than a sparrow. Female : 

 similar, save that the forehead only is rosy, and the under 

 parts are more streaked. 



THESE confiding little birds may be found during 

 the winter in loose flocks, often associated with other 

 birds, in weedy fields and other places where they 

 can find seeds. They sometimes climb along the 

 branches of shrubs, head downward, like chicka- 

 dees. They are very irregular in their visits, but 

 may be looked for any time from November to 

 March. 



They breed in northern regions, and the nest is 

 built on the ground. 



The note is a peculiar little call, something like 

 the syllables chett or chett-cher-rett, and is fre- 

 quently uttered while the birds are feeding or flying 

 from place to place. 



