294 
LESSER RED-POLL.* 
FRINGILLR LIJVAEM. 
[Plate XXX.— Fig. 4.] 
Friitgilla Linaria, Gmel. Syst. 1, p. 917, 29. F. Jtavirostris, Id. p. 915, 27.— Lath. Ind. 
Orn. p. 438, No. 16, p. 458, No. 83. — Le Cabaret, Buff. Ois. 4, p. 76. PI. enl. 485. 
Bewick, 1, p. \^\.— Fauna Orcadensis, p. 64, 3 — Gros-bec Sizerin, Temm. Man. 
d'Orn, p. 373. 
CONTRARY to the usual practice of Wilson, he omitted to 
furnish a particular description of this species, accompanying its 
figure in the fourth volume of the present work. But this supple- 
mentary notice would not have been considered necessary, if our 
author had not fallen into a mistake respecting the markings of the 
female, and the young male ; the former of which he describes as 
destitute of the crimson on the forehead; and the latter not receiving 
that ornament till the succeeding spring. When Wilson procured 
his specimens, it was in the autumn, previous to their receiving 
their perfect winter dress ; and he was never afterwards aware of 
his error, owing to the circumstance of these birds seldom appear- 
ing in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. Considerable flocks of 
them, however, having visited us in the winter of 1813-14, we were 
enabled to procure several fine specimens of both sexes, from the 
most perfect of which we took the following description. We will 
add, that having had the good fortune to observe a flock, consist- 
ing of nearly a hundred, within a few feet of them, as they were 
busily engaged in picking the seeds of some garden plants, we can 
with confidence assert that they all had the red patch on the crown ; 
but there were very few which had the red rump and breast ; the 
^ See vol. iv of this work, p, 42. 
