LESSER REDPOLL. 535 
acute ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, 
the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, without notch, the 
tip acuminate ; lower mandible with the angle short and semicircular, 
the dorsal line straight, the ridge broadish at the base, the sides con- 
vex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, 
roundish, covered by stiffish reversed feathers. 
Head of moderate size, roundish ; neck short ; body moderate. Feet 
of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered 
with a few scutella of which the upper are blended, posteriorly with 
two longitudinal plates meeting at a very acute angle ; toes siender, 
the first with its claw as long as the third with its claw; the lateral toes 
equal. Claws large, moderately arched, much compressed, acute. 
Plumage soft, rether blended, with very little gloss, unless on the 
red parts. Wings of ordinary length, the first three quills almost 
equal, but the second longest. ‘T'ail rather long, forked. 
Bill yellowish, the upper mandible dusky on the ridge; iris brown; 
feet blackish-brown. A band edging the forehead, the loral space, 
and the throat, brownish-black ; the reversed feathers on the base of 
the bill yellowish; the crown of the head crimson; the hind part of 
the head, the neck, the fore part of the back, and the scapulars yel- 
lowish-brown, longitudinally streaked with blackish-brown, the feathers 
on the hind part of the back margined with whitish, and tipped with 
carmine ; the wings and tail dusky, with yellowish-brown edges, and 
two transverse bands of the same on the tips of the first row of small 
coverts and the secondary coverts. The sides of the neck, its fore part, 
the breast, and flanks, rich carmine ; the middle of the breast, the ab- 
domen, and the lower tail-coverts white, tinged with rose colour; the 
sides longitudinally streaked with dusky. 
Length to end of tail 5; to end of wings 4; extent of wings 83 ; 
wing from flexure 37%; tail 2}; bill along the ridge 4, along the 
edge of lower mandible ?5; tarsus 7%; first toe ##, its claw #4; mid- 
dle toe #4, its claw 7%. 
Adult Female in Summer. Plate CCCLXXV. Fig. 2. 
The female, which is somewhat less, has the black of the forehead 
and throat more brown, with less red on the head, and little or none 
on the rump, or on the lower parts, which are white, the breast and 
flanks longitudinally streaked with dusky. 
