300 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



redpole. The difference in the size of the beaks of 

 the two birds is very apparent, and I always 

 fancied the short-beaked bird was duller in plumage 

 than the other. Besides these, I shot two speci- 

 mens of a mealy redpole, nearly white. I would 

 suggest a comparison between this short-beaked 

 form and our lesser redpole, which at present has 

 not been identified in the north. I observed that 

 the red breast of the male birds became much 

 deeper and more vivid as the season advanced; 

 in fact, they did not appear to be in full summer 

 dress till many of the young were flyers. I think 

 the nest of the mealy redpole is one of the most 

 beautiful I ever saw ; perfectly cup-shaped ; built 

 of fine sticks, then a layer of fine grass, and lined 

 inwardly with the white down of the willow, and 

 white feathers of the willow grouse, forming one 

 of the prettiest little mementos of the Lap forest 

 that I know ; the eggs often as many as six, some- 

 times pale light blue, unspotted, generally much 

 resembling those of the lesser redpole, and very 

 little larger. 



I saw the common linnet (F. cannahina, Lin.) 

 once or twice in the meadows, in the end of July, 

 but I never took the nest. 



The bullfinch ( Phyrrhtda vulgaris, Tern. ; 

 "domherre," Sw.) was rather common just around 

 Quickiock. We, however, never saw them till 



