56 



of all, being nearly as large as a Linnet, and is the one that inhabits the highest latitudes. 

 Being a resident in Greenland and Iceland, it is only known elsewhere as a very rare straggler, 

 and is, comparatively speaking, a rare bird in collections. It appears to be most common in 

 Greenland. Mr. Holbcell gives (/. c.) a few particulars respecting it, which I translate as 

 follows: — "i. homemanni inhabits during the summer the extreme north, and does not breed 

 below 69° N. lat. It is therefore much commoner in North Greenland than L. linaria, which 

 becomes rarer towards the north, whereas L. homemanni is still common in 73° N. lat. Its nest, 

 like that of L. linaria, is placed on small bushes ; and its eggs resemble those of that species. Its 

 call-note, which is never responded to by L. linaria, is shrill, and is not unlike that of the Wax- 

 wing. It is decidedly a resident, and during the winter frequents the fells in the interior of the 

 country, but is commoner north of 66° than south of that latitude. In February 1826 I saw 

 several flocks on the fells between Bitenbenk and Omanak; and on the journey undertaken by 

 Mr. Kielsen in 1830 from Holsteensborg in midwinter, an account of which is given by Dr. Pingel 

 in a Danish weekly journal, it is stated that large flocks of this bird were seen, and that the 

 Reindeer-hunters also see large flocks when they penetrate far into the interior in the winter. In 

 Southern Greenland it is never seen in the summer, and is, on the whole, rare ; but during very 

 mild winters it occasionally appears in large numbers at the colonies, as was the case in the 

 winters of 1828-29 and 1837-38. During the two following winters it was not seen at Godthaab ; 

 and during severe seasons it never approaches the coast. In the spring and autumn it is some- 

 times seen singly." In Iceland, Professor Newton writes, in his notes on the ornithology of that 

 island, it is "rare. Faber found a nest on the 13th July, 1820, in the north; but the young 

 had flown from it. It occurred in small flocks at Akureyri in the following winter; and 

 Mr. Proctor met with a pair near that place, August 10, 1837. Dr. Kriiper was more fortunate, 

 obtaining several nests with eggs at Myvatn. Olafsen is thus entirely justified in his supposition 

 that it bred in Iceland. He also mentions its appearance on the islands of the BretfSifjoftr." 

 Mr. Eaton in 1873 found this bird breeding at Wide Bay, at Spitzbergen, where, long before, 

 Scoresby asserted that a Redpoll was found ; and it possibly occurs as a rare straggler to the 

 northern portions of Scandinavia and Russia. One example has been obtained in Great Britain ; 

 and I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. Hancock for an opportunity of examining this and 

 other rarities in his collection. This specimen, which is in very full and white winter dress, was 

 knocked down with a clod of earth on the 24th April, 1855, on the sea-banks near Whitburn, 

 where it had been seen flying about for several days. The only authentic instance of its occur- 

 rence on the continent of Europe appears to be that mentioned by Degland, who says (Orn. Eur. 

 i. p. 242) that he saw one in the collection of M. Baillon, which had been taken in a net near 

 Abbeville. It is probable that it occasionally visits the northern portions of America ; but I have 

 no definite data as regards its occurrence there. 



I am indebted to Mr. A. Benzon, of Copenhagen, for the nest and eggs of this species, 

 obtained in Greenland in 1862. The nest is a tolerably closely felted structure of wool and a 

 sort of marsh-cotton, intermixed with lichens and a few straws, and sparingly lined with feathers ; 

 the eggs resemble those of our British Redpoll in coloration and markings, but are larger in size, 

 averaging f^ by f£ inch. 



The specimens figured are, on the first Plate, an adult bird in early winter dress and a bird 



