THE LESSEE REDPOLE. 307 



with SO mucli earnestness, tliat its whole heart 

 seems intent on this labour of love. 



It is only, however, in the north of our island 

 that this nest is made, and the young ones reared ; 

 and there, too, the bird loves for its dwelling the 

 secluded wilds, far away from the homes of man, 

 and where nothing can be heard but the song of 

 the mountain shepherd, or the music of the stream, 

 as it winds its way through sedges and wild flowers. 

 Little thickets on the mountain, or hill side, where 

 the trees and bushes are refreshed by the waters, 

 are the retreats of the lesser redpole ; and there, 

 beneath the shelter of some thick bush, the nest 

 is hidden. It is made of mosses and dry grasses, 

 mixed with the plentiful willow down, and a 

 warm lining is made also of this soft, silky mate- 

 rial. The eggs are of a pale blue green, spotted 

 with olive brown. Macgillivray remarks, that 

 this bird remains all the year in many parts of 

 Scotland. He adds, that he has seen them in 

 August " scattered over a tract overgrown with 

 thistles, the seeds of which they picked out pre- 

 cisely in the same ma^nner as the goldfinch. On 

 such occasions, unless they have been previously 

 shot at or pursued, they take little heed of ap- 



