THE MOUNTAIN LINNET. 55 



slight reddish tint on the brown of the chin and sides of the 

 neck, render them much more easily distinguishable. The 

 expression of the birds is, however, the best and most certain 

 means of distinction. The sparrow, accustomed to shelter, 

 has a soft appearance, and perches with the axis of the body 

 raised in front : the twite, accustomed to the free air in 

 places where there is little shelter, has its plumage closer, 

 and perches or stands with the axis of the body more hori- 

 zontal. The last are very certain distinctive characters of 

 birds of sheltered and exposed situations so that when 

 we find a bird habitually perching so that the wind does not 

 get under it, we may be sure that it perches in the blast. 

 Thax does not apply to the repose of the birds, for most 

 birds squat when they repose in the fields ; but to that 

 which may with propriety be considered as the natural 

 standing attitude. 



The usual note of the twite is not unlike the sound of its 

 name, and may have been the origin of it. The bird nestles 

 in the heather, though not so much in the thick dark extent 

 of it as the grous, but rather in the tufts which are inter- 

 spersed with coarse grass, near the marshy and boggy places. 

 Over these it flies low, and upon gloomy and drizzling days 

 rather dismally, uttering its single and complaining note, 

 unanswered by the voice of any other living creature j and, 

 with the exception of the owl, and that is a matter of fancy 

 more than of fact, it is perhaps the only land bird which 

 makes the place of its habitation feel more desolate and sad. 

 As one goes mountainward, the lark, the linnet, and other 

 bush-birds, and the lesser red-pole, give an air of liveliness, 

 either by the blitheness of their songs,"or the activity of their 

 motions ; but when one comes to the cold unbroken moor, 

 where no vegetable rises higher than the knee, the mountain 

 linnet inspires a very different feeling. 



The nest is usually on the top of the thick heath tufts, and 



