124 LESSER REDPOLL LINNET. 



and I suspect that they do not acquire any redness until the approach of 

 spring. The old birds were moulting at the period mentioned, and from 

 their appearance I concluded that all their red feathers are reassumed each 

 spring. The eggs, from four to six in number, measure five-eighths in 

 length, rather more than half an inch in diameter, and are pale bluish-green, 

 sparingly dotted with reddish-brown toward the larger end. 



From Pennsylvania and New Jersey to Maine, in winter; inland, to Ken- 

 tucky. Breeds in Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the 

 Fur Countries. Abundant. Migratory. 



Lesser Redpoll, Fringilla linaria, Wils. Araer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 42. 



Fringilla linaria, Bonap. Syn., p. 112. 



Linaria minor, Lesser Redpoll, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. i. p. 267. 



Lesser Redpoll, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 512. 



Lesser Redpoll, Fringilla linaria, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 533. 



Adult Male in summer. 



Bill short, strong, conical, compressed toward the end, extremely acute; 

 upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, the sides 

 convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, without notch, the tip acuminate; 

 lower mandible with the angle short and semicircular, the dorsal line straight, 

 the ridge broadish at the base, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflect- 

 ed, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, covered by stiffish reversed 

 feathers. 



Head of moderate size, roundish; neck short; body moderate. Feet of 

 moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few 

 scutella, of which the upper are blended, posteriorly with two longitudinal 

 plates meeting at a very acute angle; toes slender, the first with its claw as 

 long as the third with its claw; the lateral toes equal. Claws large, mode- 

 rately arched, much compressed, acute. 



Plumage soft, rather blended, with very little gloss, unless on the red 

 parts. Wings of ordinary length, the first three quills almost equal, but the 

 second longest. Tail rather long, forked. 



Bill yellowish, the upper mandible dusky on the ridge; iris brown; feet 

 blackish-brown. A band edging the forehead, the loral space, and the throat, 

 brownish-black; the reversed feathers on the base of the bill yellowish; the 

 crown of the head crimson; the hind part of the head, the neck, the fore 

 part of the back, and the scapulars yellowish-brown, longitudinally streaked 

 with blackish-brown, the feathers on the hind part of the back margined 

 with whitish, and tipped with carmine; the wings and tail dusky, with yel- 

 lowish-brown edges, and two transverse bands of the same on the tips of the 

 first row of small coverts and the secondary coverts. The sides of the neck, 



