BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 213 



Situation and Locality. White and black thorn 

 bushes, furze bushes, heath, juniper bushes, amongst 

 tall heather. It is sometimes situated ten or twelve 

 feet from the ground, and at others even on the 

 ground, as represented in our first illustration. 

 The nest is met with on furze-clad sides of hills, 

 commons, and rough uncultivated lands covered 

 with heather, furze, and ling, throughout the British 

 Isles. 



Materials.* A few small twigs, fibrous roots, 

 dry grass-stems, moss, and wool, with an inner 

 lining of hair and feathers, sometimes with rabbit 

 or vegetable down. 



Eggs. Four to six, greyish-white, slightly tinged 

 with blue or green, speckled, and spotted with 

 purple, red, and reddish-brown ; the spots are 

 generally most numerous round the larger end of 

 the egg. They closely resemble those of several 

 other birds, such as the Greenfinch, Goldfinch, and 

 Twite, and can only be distinguished with certainty 

 by watching the parent birds on to or off their nests. 

 Average measurement about .72 by .52 in. (See 

 Plate II.) 



Time. April, May, and June, sometimes as late 

 as July, and even August. 



Remarks. Migratory in bulk, but resident in 

 small numbers. Notes : song, soft and low, mixed 

 with some sweet and shrill notes. Local and other 

 names : Brown Linnet, Common Linnet, Grey 

 Linnet (a name referring to the young bird before 

 the first moult), Whin Linnet, Red-breasted Linnet, 

 Rose Linnet, Greater Redpole, Red Linnet, Linnet 

 Finch, Red-headed Finch, Lintie, Linwhite. Sits 

 closely. 



