122 
T/ic Lifo Story of a Mealy Redpoll. 
l)escript/(j/i : The iikUc is violet-bluc above witli the mtpcr back black- 
ish ; vviiiys and tail bhick with most of the feathers edged witii bhie ; narrow 
frontal band, lores and sides of the head deep velvety-black : below palish 
oehre-3 ellow ; underside of tail blackish ; bill black ; legs and feet dark 
brown. Total length 5| inches, tail 2|. The feiiiule is dark brown above, 
lighly washed with l)lue on the head and rump ; below pale ochre-yellow. 
Accoi-diuy to the Museum Catalogue this species ranges 
over Paraquay, S.E. Brazil, Bolivia, Pern. Ecuador and Veneizuela. 
For food and treatment of the foregoing species, see pages 1 
to 4 of current volume. 
(To be Continued.) 
The Life Story of a Mealy Redpoll 
Told by Himsulf. 
Last summer I asked the Boss if he was going to write 
anything about myself and my family, but he said that he did 
not see much use in writing about a British species for a For- 
eign Bird Magazine. I asked him if he did not consider us 
an interesting family, and he said that our nesting was the 
most interesting event tliat took place in the aviary last 
season, but that it would not interest them. [? Ed.] However, 
i said it seemed a pity not to record it, and, if he was not 
ke^n on writing the article, 1 would have a shot at it myself; 
my cliiei difficulty was to know what sort of things to talk- 
about. " Well," said the Boss, after reflecting a little, " it really 
does iiol matter much, because they won't read it but, whatever 
you say, let it be something fresh and new, for I am tired 
to death of reading the same commonplaces week after week 
and month after month; tell us about the homeland and the 
old folks and what you have seen— in a word, tell us some- 
tiiing interesting, and, if you can't tell us anything interest - 
nig, don't waste our time and yours." So here goes. 
As you Ily eastward fi'om the North Cape you iirst pass 
Vardoe, which is a little lishing town with horrible smells- 
even high up in the air you can smell the drying cod and the 
hsh oil, ughl Then you come to the Murman coast. Here 
^ou may sometimes see a splendid sight for berg and lloe 
and pack torn from the great Polar ice-field are spewed forth 
by the Ivara Sea through the Ivara Strait and carried by a 
westerly current towards tlie North Atlantic and, when a 
northerly gale lashes the Barents Sea mto fury, it hurls the 
