206 Fringillidce. 



have already made so much use, and shall continue to do so 

 throughout this volume. He says that, though very little known 

 or noticed amongst us, it is occasionally seen, and visits us, as 

 he believes, at any rate in the winter, annually. The birdcatcher 

 in his parish, before mentioned, knows the bird well, and has 

 sometimes trapped them, taking three or four in a day, and has 

 caught them at Odstock Pond and at Wittsbury Down, during 

 the months of August and September. Mr. Baker said that 

 they are not unfrequently met with on Mere Downs, and thought 

 it probable that they occasionally bred there ; to which conclu- 

 sion he was led by receiving a pair from a neighbouring bird- 

 catcher early in the autumn of 1870. It is of more slender and 

 elegant appearance than the Common Linnet, and this is in 

 great measure due to the greater length of its tail ; it is also to- 

 be distinguished by its yellow beak, whence one of its common 

 scientific names, flavirostris, and that by which it is recognised 

 in Sweden, Gul-nabbad Fink, or ' Yellow-beaked Finch.' Gene- 

 rally it passes the summer months in the northern parts of 

 Scandinavia, where it frequents the lower regions, and especially 

 delights in the boulders and stones at the foot of the fjelds. At 

 no season does it put on the red breast and head for which its 

 congeners are so conspicuous in the breeding season ; but at all 

 times the male has the rump of a reddish hue. It derives the 

 name * Twite' from its note, and that of ' Mountain Linnet' from 

 the localities it prefers. In general appearance and habits, mode 

 of feeding, and flight, it resembles the Common Linnet ; indeed, 

 at a little distance it requires a very practised eye to distinguish 

 between them. In France it is La Linotte de monlagne, and in 

 Germany, Arktische Fink, from the high latitudes to which it 

 resorts for breeding, as well as Gelbschnabliche Fink, from the 

 yellow beak mentioned above. 



88. LESSER REDPOLE (Linota linaria). 

 This is not a common bird in our southern county, though 

 abundant farther north. It inhabits the pine forests of Scandi- 

 navia, and is seldom seen here but in winter. For breeding 



