COMMON LINNET. 505 



with pale purple and reddisli brown ; the length nine lines, 

 by six lines and a half in breadth. 



When the broods are reared, and the summer over, these 

 birds again flock together, feeding on the stubble grounds 

 and waste lands ; and in the maritime counties, Mr. Selby 

 observes, that in winter these flocks descend to the sea coast, 

 where they continue to reside till returning spring again 

 urges them to pair. 



The Linnet, generally distributed over England, is also 

 common in Ireland, as I learn from Mr. Thompson ; and 

 Sir William Jardine sends me word that it is common during 

 summer in the whin covers, and occurs in large flocks during 

 winter on the stubbles and fallows : it is found also in the 

 south and east of Scotland. Mr. Selby observed it in sum- 

 der in Sutherlandshire ; and the Rev. Mr. Low says it is 

 abundant in Orkney and Shetland. The Linnet is an in- 

 habitant of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the southern 

 provinces of Russia, where it remains all the year. It is 

 found from thence over the whole of the European Continent 

 to the southward ; it is very common in France, Provence, 

 Spain, and Italy ; it is found in the Levant and at Smyrna ; 

 the Zoological Society have received specimens sent by 

 Keith Abbot, Esq. from Erzerum, about a hundred miles 

 south-east of Trebizond, on the shores of the Black Sea ; 

 and M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of the Birds 

 of Japan. 



The male of the Common Linnet in summer has the beak 

 of a bluish lead colour ; the irides hazel ; the feathers of the 

 fore part and top of the head greyish brown at the base, but 

 vermilion red at the tip ; round the eye, the ear-coverts, 

 and back of the neck, greyish brown ; the whole of the back, 

 wings, and upper tail-coverts, uniform rich chestnut brown ; 

 quill-feathers nearly black, with very narrow outer margins 

 of white ; tail-feathers black, with narrow outer edges, and 



