Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

HOARY REDPOLL.

527a. Acanthis hornemanni exilipes. 5 inches.

These pretty little birds, with their caps of bright crimson and rosy breasts, are birds of the coldest regions, breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering to the northern parts of the United States.

Nest.—They build very large nests, mostly of small sticks and grass, and lined with fine grass and feathers, which are placed usually within a foot or two of the ground in scrub bushes. Their three to five eggs are a light bluish green, with specks of brown, mostly about the larger end (.65 × .50).