258 BRITISH BIRDS. 



upper plumage is of a darker cast than the rest of 

 this genus, the middle of the feathers being dusky, 

 edged with dull pale brown ; the greater coverts 

 tipped with white; the primary and secondary 

 quills dusky, the former slightly edged on the ex- 

 terior webs with pale brown, the latter with white ; 

 the tail is forked, and of a very dark brown, 

 slightly edged half way to the tips with a lighter 

 colour; and towards the. base the outer webs are 

 more distinctly margined with white, and the 

 inner webs are still more deeply edged with that 

 colour. The rump is bright lake coloured crimson ; 

 the breast and sides are pale dull brown, rather 

 indistinctly marked with spots and stripes of a 

 darker shade; the belly is of a pale silvery blea; 

 the vent feathers white, with a streak of black 

 down the middle one; the legs and toes dusky. 

 The female nearly resembles the male, only she is 

 without the red feathers of the rump. These birds 

 frequent the solitary wastes of moors and fells, and 

 make their nest in the whin bushes, or near the 

 tops of the tallest heath, with which these places 

 abound. The nest is composed of a great quantity 

 of moss and dry grass, and slightly lined with wool 

 and feathers; the eggs are pale bluish green, 

 spotted with brown. Latham treats of the Twite 

 as a variety of the mountain Linnet, while Pennant 

 accounts it to be of the same species. 



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