THE MEALY REDPOLL. 



Linota linaria (Linnaeus). 

 Plate i6. 



The Mealy Redpoll, which is subdivided by naturalists into several subspecies 

 or forms, inhabits the northern portions of both hemispheres, and visits more 

 or less irregularly the northern and north-eastern parts of Great Britain in 

 autumn and winter. 



Its breeding haunts are among the birch woods or about the boundaries of 

 forest growth in the northern districts of Europe and Asia, which it leaves in 

 autumn for warmer climates. 



According to Mr. Dresser {Manual of PalcBarctic Birds, pp. 315-316), "It 

 breeds in the high north, and places its nest, which is a neat structure of fine 

 birch-twigs, vegetable stems, and moss, carefully lined with plant-down and 

 feathers, in a tree generally about 10 feet from the ground, but rarely on or 

 close to the ground." The five or six eggs are greenish-blue in ground colour, 

 marked with rufous-brown. 



Other Arctic races of the Redpoll are: The Greenland Redpoll, Linota 

 hornemanni, nesting in Greenland, Iceland, and Spitzbergen, which is larger 

 and altogether paler in colour than the one just described. 



Also Linota holboelli, Linota rostrata, and Linota exilipes (Holboell's, 

 Greater, and Hoary Redpoll), all closely related to each other, and occasionally 

 visiting us during the autumn and winter months. 



The female of the Mealy Redpoll is smaller than the male, and has only a 

 small amount of red on the head, without any on the breast. 



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