LESSER REDPOLE MOUNTAIN LINNET OR TWITE. 149 



gow bird- market. I have seen several specimens that were taken 

 near Forfar, and it has frequently occurred in Midlothian. 



Dr Saxby informs me that he shoots these birds in Shetland 

 every winter. 



THE LESSER EEDPOLE. 



LI NOT A LIN ARIA. 



THIS species appears to be more dependent upon woods and 

 thickets of brushwood than either the twite or common linnet, 

 as I have not been able to trace it to those districts where such 

 shelter is absent. It is a visitor to lona, as I have been informed 

 by Mr Graham, who has seen it in flocks appearing with the two 

 species just named, and Mr Elwes has added it to his list of Islay 

 birds, a specimen shot in that island being preserved in the 

 museum at Islay House. 



On the mainland of Argyleshire the Lesser Redpole is common 

 enough even in summer, and breeds in that county, as well as in 

 Renfrewshire and Dumbartonshire. It also breeds near Glasgow, 

 and is sparingly distributed in other parts of Lanarkshire, espe- 

 cially where birch plantations are numerous. The same remark 

 indeed applies to its occurrence in most Scottish districts. Its 

 habits are very easily studied, as it is exceedingly tame and heed- 

 less of observation. I have often stood within a few feet of a 

 small flock perched on thistles or feeding upon the seeds of other 

 plants by the roadside. Its movements are exceedingly active 

 and amusing, and its note wondrously loud for so small a creature. 



In Orkney as many as fifty are sometimes seen in a flock. 



THE MOUNTAIN LINNET OR TWITE. 



LINOTA MONTIUM. 

 Bigean baintighcarna (Uist). 



THE stronghold of this lively bird in the west of Scotland is un- 

 questionably the Outer Hebrides. Throughout the whole of the 

 Long Island it is found in very large flocks, and as these pass 

 overhead in the course of their journeys in search of a good feed- 

 ing ground, the brisk chirrup of the birds may be heard at a con- 



