226 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



both the Linnet and the Twite do incalculable good 

 in ridding land of vast quantities of weeds, by con- 

 suming the seeds. Consequently their visits to the 

 fields should be encouraged, and the farmer should 

 on no account countenance their destruction either 

 by snaring or shooting. Had farmers been more 

 alert to their own interests and forbidden bird- 

 catchers to enter their fields, neither the Linnet nor 

 the Goldfinch would have decreased so enormously 

 in numbers. 



The Twite is very similar to the Linnet in ap- 

 pearance, but is smaller, and has a proportionately 

 longer tail. It, however, wants the lovely carmine 

 tints on the head and breast, but the male has a 

 red rump like the Redpole. The general colour of 

 the upper parts is reddish-brown, the feathers having 

 dark centres ; the wings resemble those of the 

 Linnet, but the tail wants the broad white margins 

 to the feathers, these being replaced by pale brown 

 edges. The general colour of the under parts is 

 pale reddish-brown, shading into white on the abdo- 

 men and under tail-coverts, and streaked on the 

 breast and flanks with darker brown. The female 

 resembles the male in colour, but is paler, and wants 

 the carmine on the rump. The nestling plumage 

 resembles that of the female. Adult Twites in 

 autumn and breeding plumage are characterized by 

 having a yellow bill. The total length of this Finch 

 is about five and a quarter inches. 



