152 BlUTISH BIBBS' NESTS. 



Materials. — A few small twigs, fibrous roots, 

 dry grass-stems, moss, and wool, with au inner 

 lining of hair and feathers, sometimes with rabbit 

 or vegetable down. 



Eggs. — Four to six, greyish-white, slightly 

 tinged with blue or green, speckled and s^Dotted 

 with purple, red, and reddish-brown ; the spots 

 are generally most numerous round the larger end 

 of the egg. They closely resemble those of several 

 other birds, such as the Greenfinch, Goldfinch, and 

 Twite, and can only be distinguished with certainty 

 by watching the parent birds on to or off their nests. 

 Average measurement about -72 by '52 in. 



Time. — April, May, and June, sometimes as late 

 as July, and even August. 



BemarA's. — Migratory in bulk, but resident in 

 small numbers. Notes : song, soft and low, mixed 

 with some sweet and shrill notes. Local and other 

 names: Brown Linnet, Common Linnet, Grey Linnet 

 (a name referring to the young bird before the first 

 moult), Whin Linnet, Eed- breasted Linnet, Kose 

 Linnet, Greater Eedpole, Eed Linnet, Linnet Finch, 

 Eed-headed Finch, Lintie, Linwhite. Sits close. 



LINNET, MOUNTAIN. See Twite. 



MALLARD. See Duck, Wild. 



MAGPIE. 



Description of Parent Birds. — Length about 

 eighteen inches, more than half of which is 

 accounted for by the bu-d's abnormally long tail. 



