294 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



It constantly happens that from a considerable 

 flock no single bird escapes. 



A second species of Redpoll, the Mealy, is also 

 included in the British list. This is a northern 

 form visiting this country in winter only, and is 

 larger and lighter in colour than the more familiar 

 bird. 



The Brambling, too, is a migrant from the north. 

 In summer it may constantly be seen in Norway, 

 its jet-black head and chestnut breast conspicuous 

 as it flits about the mountain-ashes which surround 

 the little farmsteads. As autumn draws near, it 

 joins the Fieldfares and the Redwings to cross the 

 North Sea, and large flocks annually visit the 

 heaths and commons as well as the more remote 

 woodlands. 



Here, too, comes the Twite or Mountain Linnet, 

 at once to be distinguished from the Grey Linnet 

 by its longer and slenderer form, more uniformly 

 brown plumage, and light-yellow bill. It usually 

 appears on the east coast in autumn only, and its 

 visits are more or less erratic, but on the moorlands 

 to the north it breeds annually, and its nest may be 

 looked for on rocky ledges amidst the deep heather. 

 Like the Redpoll it is easily decoyed, and shows 

 little of the Grey Linnet's wariness in evading the 

 snares of the bird-catcher. 



Where the stream through the ravine joins the 

 sea the banks fall away, and upon the wide 

 declivities here, as well as upon the slopes and 

 hollows of the cliffs themselves, a wilderness of 



