34 LESSER REDPOLL. 



Philadelphia. They seem particularly fond of the seeds of 

 the common alder, and hang, head downwards, while feeding, 

 in the manner of the yellow bird. They seem extremely 

 unsuspicious at such times, and will allow a very near approach 

 without betraying any symptoms of alarm. 



The specimen represented in the plate was shot, with 

 several others of both sexes, in Seneca county, between the 

 Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Some individuals were occasionally 

 heard to chant a few interrupted notes, but no satisfactory 

 account can be given of their powers of song. 



This species extends throughout the whole northern parts 

 of Europe, is likewise found in the remote wilds of Eussia, 

 was seen by Steller in Kamtschatka, and probably inhabits 

 corresponding climates round the whole habitable parts of 

 the northern hemisphere. In the Highlands of Scotland they 

 are common, building often on the tops of the heath, sometimes 

 in a low furze bush, like the common linnet, and sometimes 

 on the ground. The nest is formed of light stalks of dried 

 grass, intermixed with tufts of wool, and warmly lined with 

 feathers. The eggs are usually four, white, sprinkled with 

 specks of reddish* 



* I have not been able to procure American specimens of this bird, 

 but comparing the description of Wilson and of Ord, there seems little 

 doubt of their identity. Wilson is certainly confounding the mountain 

 linnet (L. montium), when he says, " In the Highlands of Scotland they 

 are common, building often on the tops of the heath, sometimes in a 

 low furze bush, like the common linnet, and sometimes on the ground." 

 This is exactly the habit of the mountain linnet, and Mr Ord is wrong 

 in saying the young possess the crimson head ; I have many in my pos- 

 session without it, and have shot them at all seasons ; they receive that 

 mark at the commencement of the first breeding season, when the adult 

 birds also receive an addition of plumage and lustre. They seem very 

 fond of the beech, as well as of the birch and alder, and appear to find 

 insects in the husks of the old mast, which they are constantly picking 

 and looking into. I have found their nests also pretty frequently in a 

 young fir plantation : it was in a low situation, but they were invari- 

 ably lined with the wool of willow catkins. I shall here add Mr Selby's 

 correct description of the manners of this species, which are in every 

 way confirmed by my own observations. " It is only known in the 



