78 FRINGILLID^E. 



seven of the nests of this bird were situated in a single ever- 

 green, and, although unusual for so many of this species to 

 breed so closely together, yet when birds are not persecuted 

 they become most familiar. 



A habit of the green finch, which has not escaped the ob- 

 servation of ornithologists, is the peculiar flight, evincing its 

 pleasure during the season of incubation, and which is gene- 

 rally performed at early morning, or rarely a few hours be- 

 fore sunset. Rising from the vicinity of the nest, with a 

 seeming heavy, laborious flight, performed with long sweeps 

 of the wing, analogous to the homeward flight of the rook, 

 and uttering at the same time a very restricted song, with a 

 low and agreeable cadence, it is abruptly ended, and the 

 green finch falls, as it were, through the air, and flutters to 

 its perch. 



During winter the green finch congregates in large num- 

 bers, and associates with flocks of other birds, to search the 

 fallow grounds and farmyard for food. 



Indigenous. 



GENUS XXXVII. LINARIA (LINNET). 



SPECIES 74 THE GRAY LINNET. 



Linaria candbina. Linn. 

 Gros-bec linotte. Temm. 



THIS pleasing species, more remarkable for the richness 

 of its song than the beauty of its plumage, is the most 

 prized and valued of our smaller song-birds. And if, in 

 the olden days of chivalry, the emblem of the rich and 

 princely was the noble falcon, the bird the poor man has 

 claimed especially as his own is the unobtrusive, humble, 

 and yet melodious little linnet. With ourselves it has 

 always been a favourite, whether when perched upon the 

 gorse-bush by the sea-side, timing his low, plaintive song 

 with the splash of each successive wave, or perching on the 

 ivy projecting from some time-worn tower, u where now the 

 linnet only sings," it seems as if animated with the spirit of 

 some love-lorn damsel who had died there, so very plaintive 

 is its melody. 



A common bird, it appears to be distributed in equal num- 

 bers in almost every locality, and during winter, like the pre- 

 ceding species, it forms into large flocks, and frequents similar 

 localities, always attracting attention by its manner of alight- 



