LESSER REDPOLL LINNET. 
123 
Siskin, and are frequently uttered both when the birds are alighted and 
while they are on wing. They were in small parties of seven or eight, 
apparently formed by the members of the same family, and although several 
of these groups were around me, they did not intermingle until fired at, 
when they all simultaneously rose on wing, mixed together, and after per- 
forming several short evolutions returned to the same bushes, separated into 
families, and resumed their occupations. When alighted they were quite 
unsuspecting, and so heedless as to allow a close approach, scarcely regard- 
ing my presence, but clinging to the branches, dexterously picking out the 
seeds of the alder-cones, and occasionally coming to the ground after some 
which had dropped. 
Few birds exhibit a more affectionate disposition than the Little Redpoll, 
and it was pleasing to see several on a twig feeding each other by passing a 
seed from bill to bill, one individual sometimes receiving food from his two 
neighbours at the same time. Occasionally, however, they showed consi- 
derable pugnacity, and one would drive off its companion, inflicting some 
smart blows upon it with its bill, and uttering a low querulous chatter. 
In other portions of the same country, I saw flocks composed of twenty 
or more individuals flying loosely at a moderate height, in the undulatory 
manner of the American Goldfinch and Siskin, without, however, making 
the deep sweeps of the former ; suddenly alighting, and at once beginning 
to search with great expertness between the stems and leaves, picking at 
the embryo buds while perched over them, like Jays and Titmice. 
So hardy is this species, that, according to Dr. Richardson, it is a “ per- 
manent resident in the Fur Countries, where it may be seen in the coldest 
weather, on the banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among the reeds and 
carices, or clinging to their stalks. Although numerous throughout the 
year, even in the most northern districts, a partial migration takes place, as 
large flocks visit Pennsylvania for a month or two in severe winters.” The 
migrations alluded to are of rare occurrence in that State, however, as well 
as in that of New York. I never saw one of these birds to the westward of 
the Alleghanies, and none were observed by Dr. Townsend or Mr. Nuttall 
on the Columbia river. They are abundant every cold winter in the northern 
parts of Massachusetts and Maine, as well as in all the British Provinces. 
The food of this species consists of buds, seeds of various grasses, ber- 
ries, and the small leaves of bushes and trees. I have represented a male 
and a female on a plant which grows abundantly in the localities in which 
I found it in Labrador. 
The many young birds which I examined in the month of August, had 
the head entirely grey. The feathers of that part, and those on the breast 
and rump, were of the same colour nearly to the base, which is bluish-grey ; 
