MEALY REDPOLE. 561 
equal in length ; but the first and second rather longer than 
the third ; the fourth feather two-twelfths of an inch shorter 
than the third. 
M. Temminck’s description of his Fringilla Borealis at 
different seasons of the year, is as follows :— 
The old male in spring has the throat and lore black ; 
forehead and upper part of the head blood red ; front of the 
neck, breast, and rump, rose red; belly and flanks pure 
white: occiput and nape covered with darkish streaks on a 
reddish white ground; shoulders and back with dark streaks, 
edged with white ; pure white edges to all the quill-feathers 
of the wings and those of the tail. 
The males in autumn have the rump white, with a 
slight tint of rose colour and some brown streaks ; a slight 
reddish tint on the cheeks; the brown streaks on the back 
edged with red; the top of the head varied with two 
shades of red. 
The female has the forehead whitish; the top of the 
head red ; the breast, the under parts of the body and the 
rump white, marked with brown streaks, which are most 
numerous on the flanks. 
Although the summer plumage is here described by M. 
Temminck, this bird is rare on the Continent, and is not 
known to breed in the South of Europe, or even in Scot- 
land, while the Lesser Redpole breeds every year in 
numbers in Scotland, and even in some of the more north- 
ern counties in England. 
The heads of both birds in different points of view, with 
comparative linear measurement, are figured at page 568. 
VOL. I. 00 
