I.»2 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



twigs and grass, and lining the interior most delicately with fine moss and horsehair. The four eggs 

 of which a brood consists, are of a yellowish colour, thickly covered with reddish spots, and measure rive- 

 eighths of an inch across the broadest end. Both parents tend their young with great care, feeding 

 them for some time after they leave the nest, and warning them of danger by a peculiar cry. The 

 Sparrow Falcon (Rhyncodon sparverius) must be regarded as the most formidable of the many enemies 

 of the Winter Finches. Wilson mentions having seen this bird continually hovering in their neigh- 

 bourhood, watching for a favourable opportunity, and, when the proper moment arrived, the destroyer 

 would swoop down upon its victim, seize it, and carry it to the nearest tree to be devoured. The 

 weasel, and many of the smaller kinds of beasts of prey, are also numbered among their foes. 



The LINNETS (Caruwbhitz) have lately been formed into a distinct tribe, on account of their 

 conical-shaped bill, which is more rounded, shorter, and sharper at its extremity than in the true 

 Finches. The wings are elongated, slender, and pointed, and the tail forked at the end. The 

 representatives of this family are met with only in the northern parts of the Old World. 



THE BROWN LINNET. 



The Brown Linnet ( Cannabina linota) is five inches long and eight and a half inches broad 

 across the wings. The colour of the feathers is very variable, according to sex, age, and season of the 

 year. During the spring the adult male is most beautiful. The front of its head is bright blood-red, 

 the back of the head, neck, and sides of the throat are grey, the back rust-brown, the rump whitish, 

 the face and part of the neck a whitish grey-brown, the breast a blazing blood-red ; the remainder of 

 the lower part of the body white, and the sides a light brown. During the autumn the beautiml red 

 tints of its plumage are concealed under the light borders of the feathers ; but as these wear off the 

 creature regains its brilliancy of hue. In the female the head and neck are brown, or of a 

 deep yellowish ash-grey, the feathers spotted upon the shafts. The mantle is rust-brown, the 

 feathers of the back having a light edge, and a dark streak along the shaft. The upper part of the 

 breast and sides are light yellowish brown, thickly marked with blackish brown along the body. 

 The young resemble the mother, but have more conspicuous spots upon their somewhat paler 

 plumage. In such birds as are captured when young, the feathers never acquire their beautiful red 

 colour, and old ones, when in confinement, soon change their brilliant hues for a pale yellow or 

 yellowish red. 



The Brown Linnet inhabits the whole of Europe, a large portion of Northern Asia, Asia Minor, 

 and Syria, and during its migrations appears regularly in North-western Africa, though rarely seen 

 in the north-eastern part of that continent : in Germany it is exceedingly common, particularly in 

 hilly districts ; but it avoids high mountains and extensive forests. These birds are of a social and 

 cheerful disposition, preferring society even during the breeding season ; they assemble as autumn 

 approaches in companies of about a hundred, and during the winter associate with various other 

 species. They fly to and fro over the country notwithstanding their ]Jarental duties ; indeed, we 

 observed a Brown Linnet early in the summer in our garden, at a distance of nearly a mile from its 

 nest ; and, strange to say, in these excursions the female frequently accompanies her mate. The 

 affectionate tenderness shown by these little creatures towards each other is very striking. Should 

 one of the pair be shot, the other will at once come to the ground, uttering most piteous cries, as 

 though it could not endure the loss of its beloved companion ; the same attachment is exhibited to 

 the eggs and nestlings ; so that the parents frequently allow themselves to be captured rather than be 

 separated from their young. The flight of the Brown Linnet is light, rapid, and hovering ; when about 



