LINNET.— TWITE. 135 



is a good songster^ and in the winter assembles in very large 

 flocksj and many hundreds annually fall victims to the bird- 

 catchers. It feeds on small seeds of all kinds^ and, like many 

 of its congeners, is, in the spring, very destructive in the 

 kitchen garden, but feeds its young principally on cater- 

 pillars and insects, thus perhaps doing more good than 

 harm. 



TWITE. 



Linota flavirostris. 



The Twite, known also as the Mountain Linnet, arrives in 

 this county only in winter, confining itself entirely to the 

 coast, especially to the salt-marshes, and those portions of 

 the mud-fiats which are dry and covered with coarse herbage. 

 In such spots I have particularly observed it in small flocks 

 just above the bridge at Old Shoreham, and in February 

 1811 I shot several there, and also fell in with a small party, 

 in company with the Brambling and Tree- Sparrow, picking 

 vip the corn by the side of an oat stack in the parish of 

 Lancing. It is also frequently found on the beach. Like 

 the Common Linnet it is much prized by bird-fanciers, and^ 

 though it has but a poor song, in severe weather it is caught in 

 great numbers. It breeds in the Northern Counties, where 

 the nest resembles that of the Common Linnet, and is generally 

 placed in a fm'ze-bush. 



