120 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 
would have killed fifteen or twenty, so closely were they 
packed together. 
I met with another, or perhaps the same flock, about 
a month later in the year, and not far from the place 
where I saw them before. In 1854 we were visited by 
a smaller party, who, like the others, were feeding on 
the seeds of the alder. These, with the addition of a 
single one which was shot in company with some linnets 
and brought to me, are all I have seen. 
No bird is more common with us than the Linnet 
(fF. cannabina). In summer it is scattered all over the 
heathy tracts of the forest and the cultivated fields ad- 
joining, and even in the close vicinity of the village. In 
winter they assemble in large flocks in the stubbles, and 
I have seen them frequent corn stacks that were erected 
in the fields, clinging to the sides and picking out the 
corn. Notwithstanding this, they do good service to the 
farmer and gardener by feeding on the seeds of many 
troublesome weeds, such as the thistle, the dandelion, 
and others of the same winged character. 
Though the heath and gorse bushes on the forest 
offer innumerable suitable sites for the nest of the linnet, 
it does not by any means confine itself to such places, 
but builds in the hedges also, where I have often found 
its nest. Bolton says the nest of the linnet is lined with 
“hair, wool, and the down of willows;” it may be so, 
but I never met with any other lining than wool and 
hair, with a feather or two. 
In the next species, the Lesser Redpoll (F. linaria), 
the case is different. It is by no means a rare bird 
here ; and I have generally found the nest placed in a 
low bush of alder or willow. One is now before me, and 
consists entirely of thin dry bents, woven together with 
