allen’s naturalist’s library. 
46 
Acanthi* linaria, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xii., p. 245 (1888); 
Saunders, Man., p. 181 (1889). 
Adult male.— Light brown above, with dark blown streaks ; 
forehead crimson ; wing-coverts tipped with white, forming 
wing-bars; chin blackish; throat, fore-neck, and breast beau- 
tiful rosv-pink, the feathers generally edged with hoary white 
rump ashy white, streaked with blackish, and slightly tinged 
with rosy ; bill yellow, with the tip brown;. feet and claws 
blackish ;iris hazel-brown. Total length, 5-2 inches ; culmen, 
0-4 ; wing, 2-85 ; tail, 2-05 ; tarsus, o'6. 
Adult Female-Similar to the male, but lacking the crimson 
forehead and the rose-colour on the breast and rump, cun 
and upper throat black ; remainder of under surface white, 
with blackish streaks on the side of the body. Total length, 
5 inches; culmen, 0-35 ; wing, 275 ; tail, 2-05 ; tarsus, o 55. 
Range in Great Britain— A winter visitor from Shetland south 
along the east coast of Scotland and England, but less re- 
gular in occurrence in the south and Midlands. In some 
seasons considerable flocks arrive, and we have known the 
Mealy Redpoll to occur in some numbers in the Thames 
Valley in winter. They are then found m company with Lesser 
Redpolls, from which they may be distinguished by their 
much larger size, especially as regards the feet 
Range outside the British Islands - Throughout Northern 
Europe to the limits of the birch-region across Siberia and 
North America, but replaced m Greenland by Cannabma 
rostrata, a large race of Mealy Redpoll, with a larger bill and 
coarser stripes on the under surface. 
' Hahits- Frequenting the birch and alder trees, the seeds of 
which form its principal food, in company with Common Red- 
polls and Siskins. 
Nest -Cup-shaped; composed of bents and shreds of bark 
with lichens ; lined with catkins, hair, and feathers. 
_ Five or six, resembling those of the Linnet, but with a 
deeper blue ground and, of course, much smaller in size ; the 
reddish shading at the larger ends often clouded with tiny spots 
of reddish brown and dots and lines of purplish black. In a 
