FRIXGILLA. BIRDS. 245 



F. montifringilla, Lin. The Mountain Finch. Head, cheeks, nape, 

 and top of the back black ; throat, front of the neck, breast, sca- 

 pulars, and smaller coverts of the wings orange-red ; a narrow 

 orange transverse band on the wings ; the three exterior quills 

 black ; rump and lower parts white ; flanks reddish, with black 

 spots ; tail black. 6|- inches long. Bird of passage in Europe. B. 

 Selby, Illust. pi. 54, fig. 8, 9. 



F. nivalis, Lin. The Snow Finch. Top of the head, cheeks, and 

 neck bluish ash-coloured ; scapulars and two of the secondary fea- 

 thers of the wings brown ; coverts of the wings, the other secon- 

 dary feathers, and those of the tail white ; lateral tail-feathers 

 pointed with black ; lower parts whitish. 7 inches long. Inha- 

 bits Mountains in Europe Tern. Man. 362. 



F. cannabina, Lin. Common or Brown Linnet. Bill strong, blackish, 

 the breadth of the forehead ; throat whitish, marked in the mid- 

 dle with some brown spots ; top of the head and neck ash-colour- 

 ed ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts chestnut ; flanks reddish- 

 brown ; middle of the belly white ; some of the quill-feathers 

 black, bordered exteriorly with white ; tail forked, black. 5 in- 

 ches long. Inhabits Europe. B. Selby, Illust. pi. 55. fig. 3, 4. 

 The female Linnet is destitute of sons. Linnets are very familiar, and easily tamed. 



When brought up under the nightingale, goldfinch, woodlark, &c. they acquire the 



respective songs of those birds. 



F. montium, Gmel. Mountain Linnet. Throat, fore part of the 

 neck, broad eyebrows, and the region of the eyes bright red ; fea- 

 thers of the top of the head, neck, and back, black in the middle, 

 bordered with red j two bands of whitish-red upon the wings ; bill 

 triangular ; legs black. 4 inches long. Inhabits Europe. B. 

 Selby, Illust. pi. 55, fig. 5. 



F. Canaria, Lin.- Canary Bird or Canary Finch. Bill and body 

 whitish-yellow j quills and tail-feathers greenish. 5 inches long. 



This bird in its wild state, as observed by Labillardiere and others, exhibits a 

 brown hue, mixed with various others, and its plumage is not so attractive as it 

 becomes in confinement. In consequence of long domestication, it has, like the dog, 

 assumed an almost endless series of varieties. The colours of the female are paler 

 than those of the male. It principally occurs in the Canary Islands, frequenting 

 damp places ; and at Palma, Fayal, Cape Verd, and Madeira. From the Canary 

 Islands they appear to have been brought into Europe about the beginning of the 

 fourteenth century, and have been generally diffused over almost every civilized 

 country, owing to the powerful attractions of their song, combined with the grace- 

 fulness and tenderness of their manners and their great docility. When imported 

 from their native country they are often silent, or have but an indifferent song ; and 

 the fine warble to which our ears are so familiar, is usually modelled on that of the 

 titlark or of the nightingale. Most of those from the Tyrol have been educated 

 under parents, whose progenitors were instructed by a nightingale ; but the English- 

 bred Canary birds have more of the titlark's notes. 



*** Bill conical, long, straight, and compressed; pointofthe man- 

 dibles sharp. 



F. citrinella, Lin. Throat, breast, and middle of the belly yellow- 

 ish-green ; occiput, sides of the neck, and flanks cinereous; back, 

 scapulars, coverts, and transverse band on the wings deep yel- 



