BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 44 1 



TWITE. Also MOUNTAIN LINNET. 



(Linota flavirostris^) 

 Order PASSERES ; Family FRINGILLID^: (FINCHES). 



Description of Parent 

 Birds. Length about five 

 and a quarter inches ; bill 

 short, broad at the base, 

 and pale yellowish flesh 

 colour. Irides hazel. 

 Crown, neck, back, and 

 upper tail-coverts dark 

 brown, the feathers being 

 edged with light rufous- 



TWITE ON NEST. ... . 



brown ; rump purplish- 

 red ; wing and tail quills very dark brown, more or 

 less edged on the outer webs with white. The 

 feathers round the base of the beak and below the 

 eyes tile-red ; sides of the head dark brown, edged 

 with a lighter tinge ; chin and throat rufous, lighter 

 on the breast and sides, which are speckled with 

 brown ; belly nearly white ; vent tinged with brown ; 

 under tail-coverts almost white ; legs, toes, and 

 claws dusky ; tail slightly forked. 



The female is lighter coloured on her upper 

 parts, and lacks the red on her rump. 



Situation and Locality. Amongst tall heather, 

 ling, brushwood, and furze, in honeysuckle, small 

 gooseberry bushes, in large holes of old dry stone 

 walls, under loose rocks. I once saw one built in a 

 creeping geranium inside a small Hebridean green- 

 house. Frequently on the ground against the side of 

 a bank or by a stone in moorland districts in the 

 north of England, Scotland and the surrounding 



