The Oologist. 



vol. IX. 



ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1892. 



NO. 5 



Aoanthes Linaria. 



This little specimen of avian life is 

 not confined to America but is also a na- 

 tive of the Eastern Hemisphere. 



In this country it is a common but 

 •eratic winter visitant in the northern 

 tiers of States, though Dr. Cooper re- 

 cords seeing it hut once in Washington 

 Territory. I think without doubt that 

 in regards to numbers of birds that fre- 

 •quent this locality — central Minnesota 

 during the winter months the Lesser 

 Red-poll (Acanthis linaria) — (Linn.) 

 stands pre-eminent. Though not so 

 large and conspicuous a bird as the 

 Evening Grosbeak, which I hope to be 

 •able to say something of in a future art- 

 icle, it is very noticeable, because so 

 highly gregarious and by its apparent 

 lack of timidity in the presence of man. 

 Hundreds often congregate in a single 

 flock and they manifest so little fear of 

 human habitation that frequently they 

 will come even to the door step for 

 •crumbs. 



Taken individually and at a little dis- 

 tance the Red-poll is not a bird of pre- 

 possessing appearance, and if you were 

 not and ardent lover of ornithology or 

 failed to hear its faint, sweet song it 

 would undoubtedly be passed by with- 

 out special thought. But at nearer 

 ■sight you find that this apparently plain 

 little bird is given, though sparingly 

 erhaps, of one of the most brilliant 

 and beautiful colors in nature. The 

 -corona or crown is a bright metallic 

 ■carmine or red. The adult male is 

 quite brightly marked in the breast with 

 rose or crimson, but of a somewhat more 

 subdued tint than that of the vertex, 

 this color being diffused in softer and 

 lessening degrees as it advances up- 

 ward over jugulum and gula and is 

 finally lost in the cheeks which, gener- 



ally preserve a few faint traces, as do, 

 also, the sides where the rose merges 

 downward and is gradually blended in- 

 to the marking of the underparts. Ob- 

 solete traces of roseate may some time 

 be found elsewhere over the plumage, 

 but nowhere is it so constant as on the 

 breast, excepting of course, the crown 

 which, alike in young and old, is al- 

 ways red. 



Many a time I have watched them in 

 the garden when, alighting on a weed 

 top. I am afraid that is not saying 

 much for my gardening accomplish- 

 ments, just appearing above the snow, 

 they would peck away at the seeds for 

 a moment, then flit to another and an- 

 other, and in their constantly changing 

 positions the sun-light would glance 

 upon their red forms and be reflected 

 therefrom almost as brilliantly as from 

 the gorget of the Ruby-throated Hum- 

 mingbird. 



Whether on the ground or among the 

 the shrubbery, they seem always bus- 

 tling and busy, and will teach the ob- 

 server the lesson that Solomon saw in 

 the ants. 



Audubon says they occasionally nest 

 in Maine. But their favorite breeding 

 grounds are much farther north in that 

 belt known as the Fur Countries, when 

 in a low tree or bush, they construct a 

 rough, bulky nest and lining it with 

 feathers make a warm, cosy abiding 

 place for their future hopes. The eggs 

 of this species are described as having a 

 ground color of light blue with a slight 

 tinge of greenishness, spotted and 

 speckled, chiefly at the larger end, 

 around which the markings sometimes 

 form a confluent ring, with various 

 shades of bi-own. 



Sprites of the North, and but tran- 

 sient visitors, they leave us and return 

 to their northern fastnesses before 

 spring has much advanced. 



L. Dart. 



