XXXIX. 



GOLDFINCH. CHAFFINCH. LINNET. 



(Carduelis elegans.) (Fringilla ccelebs.} (Linota cannabina.) 



LESSEE EEDPOLL. TWITE, OR MOUNTAIN LINNET. 



(Linota rufescens.) (Linota flavirostris.) 



I HAVE put the Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Linnets, and Eedpoll in the 

 same picture, as they all frequent open ground and feed in 

 grassy, weedy cornfields. I have only seen a Goldfinch once 

 here. They used to be common in the wild parts of Kirkcud- 

 brightshire when there was less cultivation and fewer plantations. 

 They are common in France, where I have seen flocks of them 

 in cornfields, among scarlet wild poppies and " bluets," clinging 

 to the cornstalks and picking the seeds. They enjoy ripe 

 thistle seeds when they come across them. The finest I ever 

 saw were at Constantinople. One of the crew of the steamer I 

 was in had bought them and showed them to me as " beautiful 

 larks." The common Linnet is to be seen here, the Twite still 

 oftener, and the Eedpoll most of all. It builds on the apple- 

 trees in the garden a neat little nest, but not quite equal to that 

 of the Chaffinch, who also builds in the apple-trees at the time 

 the tree is in blossom, its grey lichen-covered nest contrasting 

 beautifully with the pink flowers. 



The Chaffinch is very numerous here, most obviously so in 

 the winter time, when great flocks of them frequent the bare 

 fields, picking up what seeds they can find (of weeds, probably, 

 as it is long after the corn has been carried). To judge by the 

 plumage they were hen birds, but some of them may have been 

 young males, who do not acquire their bright feathers till spring. 



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