516 LINNET 
a trace of them visible in autumn and winter; but, beginning to 
appear in spring, they reach their greatest brilliancy towards mid- 
summer ; and it is also to be remarked that they are never assumed 
by birds in confinement. The Linnet begins to breed in April, the 
nest being generally placed in a bush at no great distance from the 
ground. It is nearly always a neat structure composed of fine 
twigs, roots, or bents, and lined with wool or hair. The eggs, often 
six in number, are of a very pale blue marked with reddish or 
purplish-brown. ‘Two broods seem to be commonly brought off in 
the course of the season, and towards the end of the summer the 
birds—the young of course greatly preponderating in number— 
collect in large flocks and move to the sea-coast, whence a large 
proportion depart for more southern latitudes. Of these emigrants 
some return the following spring, and are invariably recognizable 
by the more advanced state of their plumage, the effect presumably 
of having wintered in countries enjoying a brighter and hotter sun. 
Nearly allied to the foregoing species is the Twite, so named 
from its ordinary call-note, or Mountain-Linnet, the Linota flavi- 
rostris, or L. montium of ornithologists, which can be at once dis- 
tinguished by its yellow bill, longer tail, and reddish-tawny throat. 
This bird never assumes any crimson on the crown or breast, but 
the male has the rump at all times tinged more or less with that 
colour. In the breeding-season it seems to affect exclusively hilly 
and moorland districts from Herefordshire northward, in which it 
partly or wholly replaces the common Linnet, but is very much 
more local in its distribution, and, except in the British Islands 
and some parts of Scandinavia, it only appears as an irregular 
visitant in winter. At that season it may, however, be found in 
large flocks in the low-lying countries, and as regards England even 
on the sea-shore. In Asia it seems to be represented by a kindred 
form, L. brevirostris. 
The REpPoLts form a little group placed by many authorities 
in the genus Lincta, to which they are unquestionably allied, and, 
as before stated (FINCH, p. 251), the Linnets seem to be related 
to the birds of the genus Leucosticte, the species of which, in 
number uncertain, inhabit the northern parts of North-West 
America and of Asia. There is need here to mention only two— 
L. tephrocotis, which is generally of a chocolate colour, tinged on 
some parts with pale crimson or pink, and has the crown of the 
head silvery-grey ; and L. arctoa, which was formerly said to have 
occurred in North America, but its proper home is in the Kurile 
Islands or Kamchatka. This has no red in its plumage. The 
birds of the genus Leucosticte seem to be more terrestrial in their 
habit than those of Linota, perhaps from their having been chiefly 
observed where trees are scarce; but it is possible that the mutual 
relationship of the two groups is more apparent than real. Allied 
