372 LINARIA CANNABINA. 



Male. — When the moult is completed, which happens 

 generally in November, this Linnet presents a very different 

 appearance, as to the colours of its plumage, from that which 

 it exhibited in summer. Agreeably to the order of nature, I 

 shall first describe the bird as examined when in full plumage, 

 and then trace the variations of colour induced by the decay of 

 the feathers. The Brown Linnet is the largest of our four British 

 species, which bear a great resemblance to each other, although 

 very different in size, the smallest being the Smaller Redpoll, 

 and the intermediate species the Twite and ^lealy Linnet. 

 The present bird is not only the largest of the four, but also the 

 most robust, although the epithet does not apply well to it 

 when compared with other birds of the family, it being a neat, 

 active, and lively bird, exempted by the moderate size of its bill 

 and head, from the hea^y aspect presented by the Green Linnet 

 and the Sparrow. The body is ovate, the wings of moderate 

 length, as is the tail, and the feet are short and slender ; the 

 tarsi very short and much compressed, the toes of moderate 

 length, much compressed, as are the arched, acute, laterally 

 grooved claws. 



The bill is strong, conical, acute, compressed towards the 

 tip, in all respects similar to that of the Green Linnet, but 

 proportionally smaller ; its upper outline slightly convex, the 

 ridge narrowed towards the end, the lower outline straight. 

 The tongue is narrow, sagittate and pa23illate at the base, 

 pointed, but slightly bifid. The oesophagus is two inches and 

 eight twelfths long, the stomach roundish, compressed, seven 

 twelfths in its greatest length ; the intestine twelve inches 

 long, the coeca one twelfth, and placed at the distance of an 

 inch from the anus. 



The plumage is blended, rather compact above, tufty behind, 

 slightly glossed ; the feathers in general broadly oblong. The 

 wing is broad ; the first and second quills equal, the third 

 scarcely shorter (but sometimes the first longest) ; the second, 

 third, and fourth slightly cut out on the outer web. The pri- 

 maries are rounded, the secondaries broad and emarginate. 

 When the wing is closed, the primaries rapidly decrease, the 

 secondaries increase to the fifth, the other two shorter. The 



