Lesser Redpoll, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. 512.
Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCLXXV. Fig. 1.
Bill short, strong, conical, compressed toward the end, extremely acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, without notch, the tip acuminate; lower mandible with the angle short and semicircular, the dorsal line straight, the ridge broadish at the base, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, covered by stiffish reversed feathers.
Head of moderate size, roundish; neck short; body moderate, Feet of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few scutella of which the upper are blended, posteriorly with two longitudinal plates meeting at a very acute angle; toes slender, the first with its claw as long as the third with its claw; the lateral toes equal. Claws large, moderately arched, much compressed, acute.
Plumage soft, rather blended, with very little gloss, unless on the red parts. Wings of ordinary length, the first three quills almost equal, but the second longest. Tail rather long, forked.
Bill yellowish, the upper mandible dusky on the ridge; iris brown; feet blackish brown. A band edging the forehead, the loral space, and the throat, brownish-black; the reversed feathers on the base of the bill yellowish; the crown of the head crimson; the hind part of the head, the neck, the fore part of the back, and the scapulars yellowish-brown, longitudinally streaked with blackish-brown, the feathers on the hind part of the back margined with whitish, and tipped with carmine; the wings and tail dusky, with yellowish-brown edges, and two transverse bands of the same on the tips of the first row of small coverts and the secondary coverts. The sides of the neck, its fore part, the breast, and flanks, rich carmine; the middle of the breast, the abdomen, and the lower tail-coverts white, tinged with rose colour; the sides longitudinally streaked with dusky.
Length to end of tail 5; to end of wings 4; extent of wings 8 3/4; wing from flexure 3 2/12; tail 2 1/2; bill along the ridge 4 1/2 twelfths, along the edge of lower mandible 5 1/2 twelfths; tarsus 7/12; first toe 2 1/2/12, its claw, 4 1/2/12; middle toe 4 1/2/12, its claw 3/12.
Adult Female in Summer. Plate CCCLXXV. Fig. 2.
The female, which is somewhat less, has the black of the forehead and throat more brown, with less red on the head, and little or none on the rump, or on the lower parts, which are white, the breast and flanks longitudinally streaked with dusky.