LESSER REDPOLL. 85 
1873. Mr. J. Platt tells us that the bird still breeds 
at Shavington-cum-Gresty, but it is much rarer than 
formerly. It may still be met with in the flat country 
between Nantwich and Audlem, where we have seen 
several pairs in the month of May. 
Brockholes described the Linnet as ‘an abundant 
resident in Wirral’;+ and though it has probably de- 
creased in numbers during the last twenty-five years, 
it still nests in many places along the coast. 
Among the gorse bushes on the hillsides in the East, 
the Linnet maintains a footing, and we have met with 
it in the breeding season at Wincle, Bosley, and Higher 
Sutton; and Mr. N. Neave says that a few pairs nest 
near Rainow. Mr. 8. Radcliffe informs us that, though 
he still occasionally finds the nest near Staleybridge, 
the bird is not so common as it was ten or twenty years 
ago; but in the district between Mottram and Godley 
it breeds regularly, building as often in thorn-bushes 
as in gorse. 
In winter the Linnet is generally diffused, consorting 
with Chaffinches in the hedgerows and pastures, and 
its twittering notes often call attention to straggling 
flocks flying high overhead. 
LESSER REDPOLL. 
LINOTA RUFESCENS (Vieillot). 
Jitty, Chaddy, Grey Bob. 
The Lesser Redpoll, although it cannot be considered 
a common bird, breeds throughout the Cheshire low- 
lands; whilst in some districts in the Hill Country it is 
decidedly plentiful. In some places, such as Whaley 
1 Brockholes, op, cit. p. 8. 
