168 
NEW-YORK FAUNA-BIRDS. 
GENUS LINARIA. Ray. 
Bill short, conical, higher than broad at the base, very acute at the tip. 
THE LESSER RED-POLL. 
Linaria minor. 
PLATE LXX. FIG.* 161. 
(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Fringilla linaria. Linnjeus, 12 ed. p. 322. 
Lesser Red-poll Finch. Pennant,. Arc t. ZooL Vol.-2, p.379. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 4, -p. 42, pi. 30, fig. 4 
(male) ; Vol. 9 (Orel's reprint), p. 291. 
F. ( Carduelis ) id. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 112. Audubon, fol.pl. - 375. 
Linvta id. Bonaparte, Geog. and Comp. List, p. 34. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 512. 
Linaria minor. Rich. &. Swainson, F. B. A. Vol. 2-, p.267. Kirtland, Zool. Ohio, p. 183. Peabody, Mass. 
Rep. p. 328. Audobon, B. of A. Vol. 3, p. 122, pi. 179. 
Linaria id. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 116. 
Characteristics. Greyish, varied with black and rufous above; beneath dusky white. 
Frontlet and chin blackish. Head, neck, breast and rump crimson. 
Female: crown alone crimson. Length, 5*0. 
Description. The first three quills subequal; the second longest. Tail with its acuminate 
feathers long, and deeply forked. 
Color. Frontlet, loral space and throat varying from brownish to black. Back of the head, 
neck, back and scapulars brown ; toward the rump, edged with white and tipped with crim¬ 
son. Wings and tail dusky, edged with greyish brown, and with two bands of the same on 
the tips of the coverts. Sides, front of the neck, and the breast crimson. Belly, vent and 
under tail-coverts white, tipped with crimson ; flanks streaked with dusky. Female, brown 
above varied with black. Tail-feathers margined all round with whitish : frontlet dark greyish; 
chin black; throat dusky brown ; breast and flanks striate with brown. Young: head grey. 
Length, 5'0 - 5'3. Alar spread, 8 - 0-8*5. 
This little arctic species migrates from the north (where it occupies both continents) in the 
winter, along the Atlantic, as far south as Pennsylvania, and in the interior to Ohio and Ken¬ 
tucky. Their appearance is an evidence of extreme cold at the north. In this State it occurs 
every winter, and affords a rich treat to epicures. Feeds on berries, the seeds of grasses 
and of the pine, and also their buds. Eggs pale bluish green, with a few reddish spots at the 
larger end. 
