OJST THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 299 



August 3 I took two nests with fresh eggs. Could 

 it be possible that these birds bred twice in the 

 season ? 



I never could hear the brambling make the 

 slightest attempt at a song, although I do not 

 deny that it can sing. 



At Quickiock, when we first came up, we saw 

 large flocks of the mealy redpole (F. borealis, 

 Tern. ; " gra siska, morisk," Sw. ; " om oltsit- 

 sasch," Lap.) It was exceedingly common in the 

 district, and seemed to have remained here all the 

 winter. Of the mealy redpole we have two forms, 

 if they are not distinct species, in the north ; the 

 one is the F. linaria Alnorum, Sund., from its 

 partiality to the seeds of the alder {Betula Alnus), 

 which is called the "langnabbad," or long-beaked 

 form, the beak being 3 J lines in length. This is 

 the common mealy redpole. The other is the 

 F. linaria betidarum, Sund., so called from its 

 partiality to the fruit of the birch (Betula alba), 

 which is called the " kort nabbad," or short- 

 beaked form, the beak being only 2\ lines long. 

 This form seems to be almost confined to the 

 north, and is rarely seen south of Stockholm. I 

 never met with it until I came up to Quickiock. 

 But in the winter of 1862 I shot four specimens 

 of the short-beaked bird at Gardsjo, South Werm- 

 land, out of a large flock of the common mealy 



