FRINGIIJ.IN'.K. 



179 



-"fflSfiia^-^, 







THE LINNET. 



ACANTHIS CAXNABINA (LintlKUS). 



Owing to its seasonal changes of plumage this species is often 

 known as the Grey Linnet; also as the Red or Brown Linnet, to dis- 

 tinguish it from the Greenfinch, which is frequently styled the Green 

 Linnet. It is widely distributed throughout the greater part of the 

 British Islands, especially on uncultivated lands and furze-covered 

 tracts ; but in the mountain-regions of Scotland it is replaced by the 

 Twite. Near Gairloch in Ross-shire it is almost unknown, and it 

 appears to be local in the Hebrides, although common enough 

 on some of the islands ; while from Shetland it is as yet un- 

 recorded. In autumn large flocks from the Continent arrive on our 

 east coasts, at the same time that a general migration southward 

 occurs among our home-bred birds. 



The Linnet does not breed north of lat. 64 ' in Scandinavia, 

 nor beyond 60° in East Russia. Southward, it is found as a 

 resident all over Europe ; also in North-western Africa, the Canaries 

 and Madeira. Eastward, it appears to range as far as the Altai 

 Mountains; but in Asia Minor, Hermon and Lebanon — breeding 

 nearly up to the snow-line — and in Persia and Northern India, the 

 representative race is more ash-coloured, with bright scarlet on the 

 breast, and more defined coloration ; this form is known as 



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