182 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



In winter the females separate, and the males 

 flock, feeding with other birds in the stubble 

 lands, and in severe weather resorting to farm- 

 yards. The females migrate to the south of Eng- 

 land in great numbers, and return in the spring 

 to their breeding haunts. All the finches are 

 remarkable for the neatness and beauty of the 

 nests they construct, and the chaffinch is pre- 

 eminently so. The nest is really a beautiful 

 structure, and very neatly and compactly put 

 together, so that it requires some force to pull 

 it to pieces. In the " Field Natiiralist's Maga- 

 zine," there is an account of a pair of chaffinches 

 that built so near to the sitting-room window of 

 the writer, as to allow him to observe closely all 

 their proceedings. The foundation of the nest 

 was laid on the 12th April; the female alone 

 worked at the nest-making, and by unwearied 

 diligence finished her beautiful work in three 

 weeks. She laid five eggs, and sat most pa- 

 tiently during thirteen days, at the end of which 

 the brood was hatched. 



The GREATER REDPOLE, Or COMMON LINNET, IS One 



of those birds about which there has been some 

 confusion. It is called the linnet finch, the grey 

 linnet, the white linnet, the brown linnet, and 

 the greater redpole. The LINNET is the most 

 general name. It is a gay and active bird, with 



