LESSER REDPOLE. 565 
have seen them in August, the same author says, scat- 
tered over a tract overgrown with thistles, the seeds of 
which they picked out precisely in the same manner as 
the Goldfinch. On such occasions, unless they have pre- 
viously been shot at or pursued, they take little heed of 
approaching danger, so that one may easily approach 
them.” This habit of unsuspecting confidence hag been 
noticed by other naturalists. The Rev. W. T. Bree re- 
marks,* “I well remember, when a very young sportsman, 
or rather a young carrier of a gun, falling in with a flock 
of Redpoles feeding on the seeds of the alder; after firing 
at them, I found that they returned to the very same tree 
(though I was standing under it) before I could reload my 
gun. This they did many times, and with a perseverance 
which I shall not easily forget.” Mr. Audubon, in the 
fourth volume of his Ornithological Biography, very re- 
cently published, says of the Lesser Redpole, “they were 
in small parties of seven or eight, apparently formed by 
the members of the same family; and although several 
of these groups were around me, they did not intermingle 
until fired at, when they all simultaneously rose on wing, 
mixed together, and after performing several short evolu- 
tions, returned to the same bushes, separated into families, 
and resumed their occupations. When alighted they 
were quite unsuspecting, and so heedless as to allow a 
close approach, scarcely regarding my presence, but cling- 
ing to the branches, dexterously picking out the seeds of 
the alder cones, and occasionally coming to the ground 
after some which had dropped. Few birds exhibit a more 
affectionate disposition than the Little Redpoll, and it was 
pleasing to see several on a twig feeding each other by 
passing a seed from bill to bill, one individual sometimes 
receiving from his two neighbours at the same time.” 
* The Naturalist, vol. iii. p. 452. 
