THE LINNET. 189 



of woods and plantations, where they may be seen feeding on the seeds 

 of flax, dandelion, thistle, and other plants. The pairing season com- 

 mences early in April; the nest is neatly constructed of grass and small 

 twigs, intermingled with moss and wool, and lined with hair. It is 

 usually placed in the centre of a thick furze bush or a clump of brush- 

 wood, close to the ground, but has been found in a fir tree, at the 

 height of ten or eleven feet. The eggs are from four to six in number, 

 of a bluish white colour, spotted, most thickly at the larger end, with 

 purplish grey and reddish brown. When the young are hatched the 

 parents exhibit great solicitude for their safety, and will use various 

 artifices to attract an intruder from the vicinity of the nest. 



The " Edinburgh Philosophical Journal" gives the following inter- 

 esting anecdote, showing how the natural timidity of a pair of these 

 birds was overcome by their affection for their offspring: "A nest, 

 containing four young Linnets, scarcely fledged, was found by some 

 children, who resolved to carry them home, for the purpose of rearing 

 and taming the young birds. The old ones, attracted by their chirp- 

 ing, continued fluttering round the children till they reached the 

 house, when the nest was carried upstairs to the nursery, and placed 

 outside the window. The old birds soon afterwards made their appear- 

 ance, approached the nest, and fed the family, without showing alarm. 

 This being noticed, the nest was soon afterwards placed on a table, 

 in the middle of the apartment, and the window left open. The parent 

 birds came boldly in, and fed their offspring as before. Still further 

 to put their attachment to the test, the nest and young ones were 

 placed within a bird-cage; still the old ones returned, entered boldly 

 within the cage, and supplied the wants of their brood as before, and, 

 towards evening, actually perched on the cage, regardless of the noise 

 made around them by several children. This continued for several 

 days, when an unlucky accident put an end to it. The cage had been 

 again set on the outside of the window, and was unfortunately left 

 exposed to a sudden and heavy fall of rain; the consequence was, that 

 the whole of the young were drowned in the nest. The poor parents 

 continued hovering round the house, and looking wistfully in at the 

 window, for several days, and then disappeared." 



The young are generally able to fly by the end of May, and two 

 broods are commonly reared every year. 



As soon as the breeding-season is over, the Linnets collect in large 

 flocks, and leaving the breezy heath and moorland, resort to the lower 

 districts, where they search the stubble-fields for the fallen grain, or 

 visit- the farmers' stackyards to pilfer from his store. So large are 

 these flocks, especially in mid-winter, and so closely do the birds keep 



