The Eedpole.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-The House Sparrow. 



359 



with the addition of hair or feathers. The eggs are 

 four or five in numher, and the hirds rear at least two 

 broods in the season. The Linnet feeds on seeds 

 of various Idnds, especially those of cruciferous 

 plants; it is also partial to the seeds of flax, whence 

 probably its name is derived. It has an agreeable 

 song, for the sake of which it is very comraordy kept 

 in captivity. 



THE EEDPOLE {Linota linaria), which is nearly 

 allied to tlie Linnet, is to a certain extent a migratory 

 bird in this country ; for, although it is a permanent 

 resident in Scotland, and even in some of the northern 

 counties of England, by far the greater number of 

 those seen in Britain come to us in the autumn from 

 the more northern parts of Europe. It is a diminutive 

 bird, measuring little more than four inches in length ; 

 the general colour of its plumage is brown, palest be- 

 neath ; the back is spotted with dark brown. The quill 

 feathers of the wings are nearly black, but edged with 

 ]iale brown ; the chin is black, and the flanks streaked 

 with dark brown. The forehead is deep crimson, and 

 the breast of tlie male is strongly tinged with red. 



This elegant little bird has a very wide gcogi'aphical 

 range, extending apparently throughout the northern 

 parts of both hemispheres. It is found abundantlj' in 

 the arctic regions, and even visits the inhospitable 

 shores of Spitzbergen, near which several specimens 

 alighted on Captain Scoresby's ship. During its winter 

 residence in Britain the Redpole is seen in considerable 

 flocks frequenting woods and plantations, where it feeds 

 upon the seeds of various trees, especially the birch and 

 the alder. Its nest is built in a bush or low tree, aiid 

 is composed of moss, gi'ass, and tlie down from the 

 catkins of the willow ; the latter substance also forms 

 the lining, and furnishes a soft and warm bed for the 

 eggs and young. It is a familiar and affectionate little 

 bird, and may be easily trained to perform a few tricks, 

 forwliich reason it is often kept in confinement, although 

 its song is merely a feeble twittering. 



THE MEALY EEDPOLE {Linota canescens) is a larger 

 species than the preceding, which it closely resembles 

 in general appearance. It is found in the northeni 

 parts of both hemispheres, migrating towards the south 

 for the winter ; at which season it occurs, although 

 seldom in any abundance, in Britain. 



THE MOUNTAIN LDTNET {Linota monlium) also 

 frequently called the Twite, is a common species in the 

 north of England and in Scotland, where it dwells 

 throughout the year and breeds, but makes its appear- 

 ance in our southern counties only during the winter. 

 It measures about five inches and a quarter in length, 

 the same as the Mealy Kedpole, but is of a more slender 

 form, and furnished with a longer tail ; and it has no 

 red either on the head or the breast. This bird resides 

 Tipon hills and mountains, and builds amongst the 

 heath. 



THE GREENFINCH {Clilorosx>iza Cliloris) is one of 

 the commonest of British birds, and is a permanent 

 resident in the cultivated districts of our islands. It 

 occurs in most parts of the continent of Europe, and is 

 enumerated amongst the birds found by Kittlitz in the 

 island of Benin, situated more than four hundred miles 

 to the east of Japan. It is distinguished from the pre- 



ceding species by the stoutness of its short conical bill, 

 in which character it somewhat resembles the Gosbeaks. 

 The general colour of the plumage isyellow oryellowish, 

 becoming olive-green on the back ; the wing primaries 

 are gi-ayish-blaok, witli two-thirds of *heir outer edges 

 bright yellow; the tail-feathers are grayish-brown, with 

 the basal half of all, except the two middle ones, bright 

 yellow. The female is of a pale brown colour, more or 

 less tinged with yellow and green. The male is rather 

 more than six mches in length ; the female a little 

 smaller. 



The Greenfinch frequents gardens, orchards, and 

 woods, resorting in the winter to shrubberies and plan- 

 tations of evergreens for protection from the inclemency 

 of the weather. Its food consists of seeds of various 

 kinds. Its nest is built in a hedge or bush, rarely in a 

 tree, and composed externally of roots, moss, and wool, 

 lined with fine root-fibres, hair, and feathers. 



THE HOUSE SPARROW {Passer domesticus). This 

 abundant and well-known British bird appears to be 

 generally distributed over the whole northern part of 

 the eastern hemisphere, and everywhere exhibits the 

 same fondness for the habitations of man, so that, as 

 Mr. Yarrell remarks, " from the thatch of the cottage 

 of the peasant to the elaborately ornamented architec- 

 ture of the palace of the prince, all buildings are alike 

 subject to its intrusion." The nest of this bird is in fact 

 built in any cranny that affords it a secure resting-place, 

 and in London, and other large cities, the architectural 

 ornaments of buildings are not unfroquently disfigured 

 by the protrusion of straws cai'ried into some sheltered 

 nook by the sparrows. A curious example of this has 

 been furnished by the crocodile, which forms one of 

 the adornments of the pediment of the British Museum. 

 The sparrows, with a great contempt for the skill of the 

 sculptor, took it into tlieir heads that the constantly 

 open mouth of this stone-monster would furnish an 

 excellent shelter for their nests, and accordingly carried 

 in such quantities of straw that it protruded freely from 

 between his teeth, as though he were engaged in the 

 consumption of this somewhat unnatural food. Some- 

 times, however, the sparrow builds in some tree in a gar- 

 den or orchard, composing its nest of liay and straw, and 

 furnishing it with a dome ; wherever the nest is made, 

 it is always lined with a profusion of feathers. Sparrows 

 usually rear three broods in the year, laying from four 

 to six eggs at each time. They feed their young with 

 great assiduity, principally upon caterpillars ; and if wc 

 consider the number of those destructive insects which 

 must be destroyed by them in the course of each 

 summer, it will appear that they amply repay us for 

 any plunder that they may commit in the corn-field 

 and poultry yard. A singular and interesting instance 

 of the attachment of sparrows to their olTspring is given 

 in the first volume of the " Zoological Journal," where 

 it is stated that a pair of these birds, which had built 

 in the thatch of a house at Poole, being observed to 

 continue their visits to the nest, even until the winter 

 had set in, it was found on examination that one of 

 their young ones had been detained by a piece of 

 string, or worsted, accidentally twisted round its legs ; 

 as it was thus prevented from going abroad to seek 

 its o\vn living, its parents had continued to feed it. 



