FRINGILLIN.t. 



169 



THE GREENFINCH. 



LiGURiNUS CHLORis (Linnffius). 



The Greenfinch, sometimes called the Green Linnet, is a common 

 and well-known resident species in the cultivated and wooded dis- 

 tricts of Great Britain and Ireland. In the bleaker portions of our 

 islands it is, naturally, less abundant ; but it has spread with the in- 

 crease of plantations of late years, and even in some of the Orkneys 

 it now breeds freely, although to the Shetlands, as well as to the 

 Outer Hebrides, it is still a mere visitor, chiefly in autumn. Large 

 flocks annually arrive on our east coast in October. 



To the Faeroes the Greenfinch is only a rare wanderer ; but south 

 of 65° N. lat. in Norway and 60° in the Ural Mountains it is more 

 or less sedentary in suitable localities throughout Europe. In Spain, 

 Northern Africa, Palestine and Asia Minor, our comparatively large 

 and dull-coloured bird is only observed during the winter months, 

 and the race which breeds is distinctly smaller, and — especially on 

 the forehead — more brightly coloured. Extremes of this form have 

 been named L. chloroticus ; while intermediate examples have been 



