HOLBOELL'S REDPOLL. 43 



considerable time without seeing a bird, till a 

 call-note suddenly directs one's attention to the 

 part of the tree in which the Redpolls are, and we 

 have often been amused to find that there have 

 been a dozen or twenty birds within a short 

 distance of our heads, so quietly engaged in 

 feeding that we have failed to distinguished them. 

 In feeding, they often hang back downwards, and 

 scarcely ever utter a sound, and the call-note, 

 which sounds like "too-whee," uttered in a nasal 

 manner, is generally the signal for the little flock 

 to fly off to another alder or birch-tree. This 

 call-note, which is very similar to that of the 

 Siskin, is quite different from that of the Linnet. 

 A flock of Twites, however, will utter the same 

 kind of note as Redpolls, and they are very like 

 the latter birds in their appearance and ways. 



Mr. Seebohm says that he has often heard the 

 song of the Lesser Redpoll near Shefiield, and 

 he describes it as a short, monotonous trill, clear, 

 shrill and not altogether unmusical. Prosaically 

 described, however, it may be said to resemble 

 the rattling of loose cog-wheels. The nest is a 

 beautiful little structure, composed "of a few 

 slender twigs in the foundation, and built up of 



