LESSER REDPOLL. 85 
LESSER REDPOLL (on REDPOLE). 
Liyota rurescens, Vieill. 
Pl. XIIL., fig. 12. 
Geogr. distr.—Restricted during the breeding season to Great 
Britain, but proceeds later in the year to Western Europe. Breeds 
chiefly in the northern counties of England and in Scotland. Resident 
throughout the year in wooded districts. 
_Food.—Seeds of groundsel, thistle, &c., which it picks out whilst 
clinging to the plant-stems. 
Nest.—Neatly and usually firmly constructed, small and elegant, 
formed of plant-stalks, roots, moss, and dry grass, with hair towards 
the interior, which is beautifully lined with pure white willow-down, 
wool, or occasionally with fine grasses and feathers. 
Position of nest.—In low trees or bushes near water. 
Number of eggs.—4-6. 
Time of nidrfication.—V-VI. 
Ihave twice taken the nest of this species from grass 
tussocks growing upon narrow paths through water and 
marsh land at Murston in Kent: in each case the nest 
contained six eggs; but those in the first nest which I 
discovered were somewhat incubated, so that one of the 
eggs was destroyed in blowing. In both casesI flushed the 
hen off the nest. I also have an aberrant nest with un- 
usually pale eggs, taken from a bush in marshy ground at 
Kemsley. It is compact, but by no means firm, being 
formed almost wholly of wool, thinly covered externally 
with dry grasses and internally with hair. I have seen the 
cock bird during the breeding season (and I took pleasure 
in watching it for fully five minutes) hopping in and out of 
an open hawthorn fence at Detling, in Kent; so that there 
can be no question whatever that the species breeds in this 
county, though somewhat sparingly ; indeed it has already 
been recorded as breeding there by Mr. Wharton (Zool. p. 
8951). It also breeds—at any rate, occasionally—in Dorset, 
Hampshire, Middlesex, Oxford, Gloucestershire, Salop, 
Worcestershire, Warwick, Lincolnshire, Cambridge, Nor- 
folk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, 
Cheshire, and thence in all the counties northwards. The 
cock Redpoll, in breeding plumage, is a prettily-coloured 
bird, with his yellow bill, crimson crown, and rosy throat, 
chest, and sides of breast, and (if not often seen) is sure to 
attract one’s attention. 
