COMMON LINNET. 551 



THE propriety of advancing the Linnets, of which there 

 are many species, to generic distinction among the Finches, 

 appears to be admitted by many of the naturalists of the 

 present day ; but the term Linaria, which has latterly 

 been applied to them, has been considered objectionable and 

 even inadmissible, from the circumstance of this word 

 having been employed in botany more than two hundred 

 years.* 



From the great changes which our Common Linnet un- 

 dergoes at different periods of the year, it was long sup- 

 posed that there were two species included under this 

 name, and the specific terms linota and cannabina were 

 applied to them, as a reference to the synonymes of Pen- 

 nant, Montagu, and Bewick, here quoted, will show. 

 These seasonal changes and appearances are now better 

 understood, and in the case of our Common Linnet, under 

 consideration, are known to constitute only the summer 

 and winter plumage of the same individual species. It is 

 obviously an advantage to combine the two specific words 

 by which the Linnet has hitherto been systematically 

 known, and I therefore adopt the term Linota for the 

 generic term, as proposed by Charles Lucian Bonaparte, 

 Prince of Musignano, in his Geographical and Compara- 

 tive List of the Birds of Europe and North America. 

 One other additional advantage is also gained ; our Lesser 



* The terra Linaria was employed in Botany to distinguish certain species 

 of toadflax, by Fabius Columna, who published in 1616, and this word was 

 probably so used even before that date. It was again made use of by Caspar 

 Bauhim in his Pinax, published in 1671. In 1699 this word was adopted by 

 Tournefort, in his Institutiones Rei Herbariee, and the characters of the genus 

 are beautifully illustrated in Tab. 76 of that work ; seven species were then de- 

 scribed as belonging to this genus, and the name was continued by Jussieu in 

 his Genera Plantarum, published in 1789. Linnaeus did not adopt the genus 

 Linaria, but included the species in his genus Antirrhinum ; in this arrange- 

 ment, however, the example of Linnseus has not been followed by systematic 

 botanists, who still continue to use and refer to the generic term Linaria. 



