XVI. 



FRINGILLA CHLORIS. (temm.) 



Green Linnet, Green-Finch. 



Few birds breed more abundantly in this country than the 

 Green Linnet. Its nest is loosely put together on the out- 

 side, which is composed of small twigs, roots, moss, and wool, 

 becoming finer and more firm as the structure advances, and 

 is thickly lined with wool, very fine roots and grass, hair, and 

 a few feathers. It may be found in almost every tall hedge, 

 in thorn bushes, in evergreens, in hollies, in ivy against trees 

 and walls, and, in one instance, I have met with it upon a 

 pollard apple tree. It is most commonly at an elevation of 

 five or six feet or more, very rarely lower. The eggs are 

 four or five, differing but slightly, as in Figures 1 and 2 of 

 the annexed plate. 



Birds in a state of nature rarely lay those half-grown mis- 

 shappen eggs which our common fowls frequently do, but 

 there are odd ones occasionally found. I have one from the 

 nest of the Green Linnet, not more than half the usual size, 

 and quite white. 



FRINGILLA CCELEBS. (linn.) 

 Chaffinch, Skelly, Shell-apple, Scobby, Pick-a-tree, &c. 



Like the above, this is a common and well-known bird, 

 the nest of which must have been admired by every one de- 

 riving any pleasure from the observation of tlie beautiful and 

 wonderful contrivances of birds in the formation of their nests. 



Few birds can compete with the Chaffinch in the neatness, 

 symmetry, and elegant arrangement of the materials of its 

 nest. They are principally moss, so worked and matted toge- 

 ther with wool, that it is no easy matter to pull it into pieces 

 as small as those of which it was first formed. In tiic inside 

 is a very thick lining of dry grass, wool, feathers, thistle-down 

 and hair, and, in fact, any soft material that can be met with. 



