FRixt;ir,i,ix.-E. 



■ ss 



} ,, ■..-■■: -^ ::■:■■■ 





THE TWITE. 



AcANTHis FLAViK(')STRis (Linnjeus). 



The Twite, or Mountain-Linnet as it is often called, may be dis- 

 tinguished from the Redpolls by its longer tail, more slender 

 appearance, and the absence of any crimson tint on the head or 

 breast. During the breeding-season it is an inhabitant of most of 

 our moorlands from the Midlands northward, and although more 

 frequent in the hilly districts, it nests at the lower level of the mosses 

 in Lancashire and elsewhere. It is, however, rather local; and in 

 Cumberland it has, for some unaccountable reason, decreased during 

 the last thirty years. On the mainland of Scotland the ' Hill Lintie' 

 or 'Yellow-neb Lintie,' as it is called, becomes more abundant, 

 especially where there is a sufficiency of long rank heather ; and in 

 the neighbourhood of the shore, on the long arms of the sea so 

 numerous on the west coast, and in the Hebrides, Orkneys and 

 Shetlands it is extremely numerous. In Ireland it breeds commonly, 

 both on the mountains and on the coast, from Waterford in the south 

 to Donegal in the north. On the approach of cold weather the more 

 elevated districts are abandoned, and gradually increasing flocks 

 descend to the sea-shore, spreading themselves over the country : 

 but in the south and east of England their appearance is somewhat 

 irregular as regards numbers, while in Cornwall the species is, like 

 the Lesser Redpoll, extremely rare. 



On the Continent the Twite is found in summer amonir the islands 



