. The sportsman's British bird book . that invaluable work, the British(Linota rufeseens) Museum Catalogue of Birds, the lesser redpoll is classed as a raceof the ordinary species, it is moregenerally regarded as a distinctspecies (whose alternative titles areLiuaria riifescens, Acanthis riifescens,and Cannabina rufescens), and it isaccordingly so ranked in the presentwork. It is the smallest of theBritish finches, measuring onlyabout 5^ inches in length ; the cockin spring being characterised by thecarmine (not blood-red) foreheadand breast, and a brownish-buffwing-bar. In this sex the sides
. The sportsman's British bird book . that invaluable work, the British(Linota rufeseens) Museum Catalogue of Birds, the lesser redpoll is classed as a raceof the ordinary species, it is moregenerally regarded as a distinctspecies (whose alternative titles areLiuaria riifescens, Acanthis riifescens,and Cannabina rufescens), and it isaccordingly so ranked in the presentwork. It is the smallest of theBritish finches, measuring onlyabout 5^ inches in length ; the cockin spring being characterised by thecarmine (not blood-red) foreheadand breast, and a brownish-buffwing-bar. In this sex the sides ofthe face, the loins, and the outerwebs of the lateral tail-feathersshow a carmine tinge, the rest ofthe upper-parts and the flanks arewood-brown streaked with darker brown, the throat and a patch in frontof the eye are black, and the abdomen is white. Grey edges to thefeathers veil the carmine for some time after the autumnal brilliant tint is restricted in the hen to the forehead, and isaltogether absent in young LESSKK KEDlOLL. 568 PERCHING BIRDS The lesser redpoll is a bird mainly confined to western Europe,although it breeds in the mountains of the south. It is a residentspecies in Scotland, the north of England, and Ireland ; and has onseveral occasions been known to breed so far south as Derbyshire andNottinghamshire; while in 1901 a nest was recorded from 1904 a pair of lesser redpolls nested in Norfolk while still in theimmature brown plumage. At the approach of winter these birdsmigrate southwards ; and not many years ago were common duringthat season in the alder and willow brakes of the Thames valley. Thenest is the usual mossy cup ; and the eggs, which but little exceedhalf an inch in their longer diameter, are bluish with red spots overlainby a small number of spots of purplish brown ; the whole of the spotsbeing in some cases aggregated round the larger end. A nest of thisspecies has been taken in the isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides. A
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