ACANTHrS CANNABINA 219 



Adult female resembles the male to a certain extent, but has no crimson 

 on the head and breast, while the underparts are more spotted and striped. 

 Soft parts and measurements similar to those of the male. 



Observations. — In winter the crimson forehead and breast of the male 

 have an admixture of whitish feathers, and the general plumage of both 

 sexes is duller. 



Tlje Liiiuet is a commou species throughout the Regency, 

 occurring as a resident and migrant north of the Atlas, but apparently 

 only as a winter migrant south of those mountains. In Algeria and 

 Marocco it also appears to be abundant. In the former country 

 Dr. Koenig found it nesting in the Aures districts, while from the 

 latter country I have young birds obtained in the southern districts. 

 Mr. Meade-Waldo mentions having seen Linnets in the Maroccan 

 Atlas at an elevation of 9,500 feet. 



During the colder months large flocks of Linnets may be seen on 

 most of the Tunisian plains and tracts of semi-cultivated land, but 

 these flocks disperse on the approach of spring, the bulk of the birds 

 migrating northwards. 



In its habits the Linnet is very sociable, and may often be found 

 consorting with other Finches, as well as with birds of its own kind. 

 Its food consists chiefly of the seeds of various wild plants, but it 

 may often be found on stubble-fields feeding upon grain. The Linnet 

 has a soft and musical song, and being easily domesticated, is in 

 great request as a cage-bird. 



The breeding season of this species in Tunisia commences about 

 the beginning of April and continues throughout that month and 

 May. The nest, which is generally placed in a low bush, is made 

 of fine rootlets and grasses, lined with wool and hair, and the eggs, 

 four or five in number, are bluish-white, sparsely spotted with reddish- 

 brown. Average measurements 17 X 14 mm. 



The resident Linnet of North-west Africa is considered by some 

 ornithologists to differ from the ordinary European form and has 

 been separated from it subspecifically. 



No Eedpoll seems to occur in North-west Africa. In Sicily, how- 

 ever, I obtained a specimen of the Lesser Eedpoll (L. rufescens) in 

 the autumn of 1903, the first example of the species recorded from 

 the island. 



