220 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



feathers. This Hning is arranged very smoothly 

 and neatly. The nest is seldom placed more than 

 a few feet above the ground, sometimes quite close 

 to it, and rarely upon the ground. The eggs are 

 from four to six in number, pale bluish-green in 

 ground-colour, sometimes almost white, spotted and 

 speckled chiefly at the larger end with dark brown, 

 paler brown, and grey. Both birds assist in in- 

 cubatinor them, the female, however, doino- the 

 greater part. Very often the exact locality of the 

 nest may be detected by the cock-bird persistently 

 perching near it to sing. Two broods are generally 

 reared in the season. 



The food of the Linnet is principally composed 

 of small seeds. The bird does not appear to be so 

 much of an insect-eater as some of the other Finches ; 

 and it is said even to feed its young on seeds which 

 have been prepared by careful husking and some- 

 times partial mastication. The larger seeds and 

 grain are not eaten to anything like the extent the 

 smaller ones are, such as those of docks, thistles, 

 plantains, chickweed, charlock, and so on. 



The adult male Linnet has the fore part of the 

 head crimson, the rest of the head, the nape, and 

 the sides of the neck brownish-grey ; the back is 

 chestnut-brown, paler on the rump, each feather, 

 including the wing-coverts and innermost secondaries, 

 with an obscure dark centre ; the upper tail-coverts 

 are dark brown broadly margined with rufous-white ; 



