39 



Young in nestling dress (Stockholm, 16th June) . Head and nape blackish brown, the feathers margined 

 with buffy grey ; back similarly coloured, but the feathers are tinged with reddish brown ; wings and 

 tail as in the adult bird, but the margins are warm rufous buff, not white ; entire underparts buffy 

 white streaked with blackish brown ; bill brown ; legs brownish flesh. 



Obs. After the autumnal moult the plumage is much lighter than in the summer, owing to the long light 

 fringes to the feathers ; and this dress is retained throughout the winter. When spring advances the 

 plumage gradually changes, not, it would seem, by a moult, but by the gradual abrasion of the light 

 fringes ; and by degrees the red appears on the breast and rump, and the red cap increases in size and 

 in intensity of colour. The spring plumage above described is that worn at the commencement of the 

 breeding-season ; but as the summer advances the upper parts become much darker, and the feathers 

 worn and abraded, and the red colour becomes much more intense; thus in a specimen in my collec- 

 tion, shot at Quickjock in July 1867, the light markings on the upper parts are reduced to a few streaks, 

 the red cap extends over half the crown, and the red on the breast extends over the whole breast and 

 on the upper part of the flanks. In this plumage it is JEgiothus fuscescens of Coues. The same change 

 in plumage also takes place in the other Redpolls; but the difference in the coloration of the upper 

 parts in L. rufescens, between the summer and winter dress, is not so great as in the other allied species. 

 There is some dissimilarity in size ; but this is, so far as I can see, chiefly individual. The following 

 table will show how far the variation in size ranges in individuals from different localities : — 

















Wing. 



Tail. 



Tarsus. 





inches. 



inches. 



inch. 



Linota linaria . . . Great Britain . . . . <S 



2-95 



2-5 



0-58 



33 







33 ... 



? 



2-80-2-85 



2-40-2-5 



0-52-0-55 



>) 







Central and S. Sweden 



6 



290-3-02 



2-50-2-65 



0-54-0-58 



)> 







33 33 



2 



2-85-2-96 



2-50-2-54 



0-52-0-56 



33 







"West Finmark . . • 



3 



2-90-2-95 



2-45-2-65 



0-58-0-62 



33 







33 







2 



2-8 



2-5 



0-52 



33 







East Finmark . 







6 



2-94-2-95 



2-56-259 



0-60-0-64 



33 







31 







2 



2-80-2-85 



2-30-2-52 



0-55-0-58 



33 







North Bothnia 







6 



2-90-2-96 



2-50-2-69 



0-57-0-6 



33 







European Russia 







6 



2-85-2-98 



2-45-2-65 



0-57-0-6 



33 







33 







2 



2-82-2-92 



2-42-2-6 



055-0-6 



33 







S. E. Siberia . 







6 



2-85-2-95 



2-35-2-55 



0-60-0-62 



33 







North America 







8 



2-85-2-95 



2-50-2-62 



0-54-0-62 



Linota rufescens 





Great Britain . 







6 



2-65-2-8 



2-40-2-5 



0-53-0-58 



» 





33 







2 



2-50-2-65 



2-40-2-45 



0-50-0-55 



Linota hornemanni 



Greenland . 







d 



33 



30 



0-62 



33 



33 







2 



310-3-15 



2-62-2-75 



0-65 



33 



Spitsbergen 







6 



33 



2-75 



0-7 



Linota exilipes 



Tromso, Norway 







6 



30 



2-68 



0-64 



3) 





33 







2 



272 



2-48 



0-55 



33 





European Russia 







6 



2-90-3-0 



2-45-2-62 



055-0-62 



33 





33 







2 



2-65-2-94 



230-2-52 



0-51-0-58 



33 





Darasun 







6 



2-89 



2-5 



0-56 



33 







. North America 









2-90-2-98 



2-60-2-65 



0-58-0-6 



The measurements of the bill are not given, as they are most variable — not only in different individuals, 

 but, according to the nature of the food, at different seasons in the same individual. 



