78 BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 



reason to doubt Mr. Couch's statement in the 

 ' Zoologist,' as the bird was brought into his shop. 

 He must have had plenty of opportunity of identi- 

 fying it, though he does not tell us whether he 

 preserved it. There can, however, be no possible 

 reason why the Siskin should not occasionally 

 visit Guernsey on migration, as it extends its 

 southern journey through Spain to the Mediter- 

 ranean and across to the North-western Coast of 

 Africa ; and the Channel Islands would seem to lie 

 directly in its way. 



The Siskin, however, is not mentioned in Pro- 

 fessor Ansted's list, and there is no specimen at 

 present in the Museum. 



70. Linnet. Linota cannahina, Linnaeus. French, 

 "Linotte," " Grosbec linotte." — The Linnet is 

 resident and the most numerous bird in the Islands 

 by far, outnumbering even the House Sparrow, and 

 it is equally common and breeds in all the Islands. 

 The Channel Islands Linnets always appear to 

 me extremely bright-coloured, the scarlet on the 

 head and breast during the breeding- season being 

 brighter than in any British birds I have ever seen. 

 Though the Linnet is itself so numerous, it is, as 

 far as I have been able to ascertain, the only 

 representative of its family to be found in the 

 Channel Islands ; at least I have never seen and 

 had no information of the occurrence of either the 



