LIN ARIA MINOR. 419 



synonym for rose linnet and greater redpoll, if not a distinct 

 species altogether. I inspected them after moulting in 1888, 

 also in 1889. The head, breast, and rump had changed to 

 yellowish-brown, with a greenish tinge. Sometimes the glossy 

 feathers on the head assumed a pinkish hue in certain lights. 

 They had also yellowish bars across the wings, and part of 

 the throat still black. They sometimes sang a low sweet 

 warble, but not great singers, their chief attraction being their 

 amusing activity in climbing up and down their cage. It was 

 amusing to see them change foot-over-foot like a sailor working 

 hand-over-hand up a rope. They also feed on seeds, and only 

 pay us a visit when driven from their haunts by frost and snow, 

 as Burns says Alexander Cunningham was driven from love by 

 his jilt of a sweetheart — 



" The little floweret's peaceful lot 



In yonder cliff that grows, 

 Which, save the linnet's flight I wot, 



Nae ruder visit knows 

 Was mine ; till love has o'er me past 



And blighted a' my bloom, 

 And now beneath the withering blast 



My youth and joy consume." 



The next genus is that of Coccothraustes, or Nut-Breaker. 

 Generic features : — Bill very thick, strong, conical, and bulging 

 at the base, quick tapering to the point ; culmen rounded ; 

 lower mandible nearly as thick as the upper ; wings long and 

 pointed ; tail short, forked. Tarsi short, claws sharp and curved. 

 We have only two British species — the common grosbeak or 

 hawfinch and the green grosbeak, better known as the green 

 linnet. But the genus has an extensive range over Europe and 

 America. By the power of their bill the larger species can 

 break the shells of the hardest seeds, upon which they chiefly 

 subsist. 



