42 HOLBOELL'S REDPOLL. 



degree of accuracy on this point, however, as 

 recent observers have persisted in uniting many 

 of the forms together, though not omitting to 

 record differences of plumage, as well as variations 

 in the call-notes and song. A full account of the 

 several species has yet to be written. Thus, of 

 Holboell's Redpoll, be it merely a race or a good 

 species, nothing is known with certainty, as the 

 notes written about Scandinavian and Siberian 

 Redpolls may, after all, apply to Cannahina linaria 

 or C. exilipes, which likewise occur .in those 

 countries. 



The best-known of the British species is the 

 Lesser Redpoll {Cannahina rufescens), which breeds 

 sparingly in the southern counties, but more 

 commonly in the north of England. It is, 

 however, much more numerous on migration, and 

 is caught in large numbers during its autumn 

 flight to the southward. At this season, it may 

 be seen feeding on the birch-trees, and oftener 

 still on the seeds of the alder, in company with 

 Siskins and Goldfinches. When thus seen, its 

 actions are very much like those of a Tit, though 

 the bird is never so active or noisy. It is by no 

 means impossible to stand under an alder tree for a 



