35 



shy, clearly understanding the necessity for caution. During the autumn and winter months the 

 Linnets collect in flocks, and are then more shy than at any other season ; but when breeding, 

 love for its mate or young renders it more bold and less wary. 



It is not a forest-bird, but frequents during the breeding-season the outskirts of the woods 

 where there is young growth, gardens, orchards, groves, and hedges, and I have most frequently 

 found it on the bush-covered hill-sides. During the winter, however, it is found in flocks on the 

 fields and stubbles far from the wooded or bush-covered localities, and frequently in company 

 with Mountain-Finches, Greenfinches, Tree-Sparrows, &c. &c. Its call-note is a short, harsh 

 geek, gecker, much harsher and deeper than the call-note of the Twite, which it resembles ; and 

 this note is most frequently heard when the bird is on the wing. The song of the male is sweet 

 and flute-like ; and this bird is a very steady songster : commencing as early as March, it is 

 in full song until July, singing at all hours of the day, though more industriously in the forenoon. 

 Even late in the year Linnets may be heard singing, though their song is then not so good ; these 

 songsters are probably young males. As a cage-bird it is exceedingly tractable, can be taught 

 almost any thing that a Canary or any other small bird will learn, and is an excellent songster in 

 confinement. Naumann says that not only will it learn to whistle tunes, but has been known to 

 articulate words like a Parrot. 



It feeds chiefly, and almost exclusively, on seeds, of various kinds, especially those which are 

 of an oily nature ; and though it frequently makes free with the seeds sown in the gardens, yet it 

 consumes the seeds of many noxious weeds. The young are also fed with seeds, which have been 

 shelled and softened in the parent bird ; and Naumann states that " the young of the first brood 

 are fed chiefly with the seeds of Alsine media, Stellaria alsine, Leontodon taraxacum, &c." Early 

 in March they take possession of their breeding-places ; and late in the same month the nest is 

 being built. The positions selected for this latter differ exceedingly ; for it may be found in a 

 low bush, in a hedge, or in a tree at from 2 to 25 feet above the ground, and instances are on 

 record of the nest being on the ground itself: for instance, it is said to breed in holes in the 

 ground on the banks of the Elbe; and Canon Tristram found it nesting on the ground. The 

 nest resembles that of the Greenfinch, being constructed of the same materials ; but it is smaller, 

 the materials rather finer, and seldom contains any moss in its structure. It is composed of 

 straws and bents and rootlets, intermixed with a little wool &c, and lined with wool and fine 

 roots or horsehair. Both male and female assist in the construction of the nest ; but the latter 

 does the chief portion of the work. Two broods are usually raised in the season, the first eggs 

 being deposited in April, and the second in June — the first clutch consisting of five or six, and 

 the second of only four. The eggs closely resemble those of the Goldfinch, being pale sea- 

 green or blue-greenish white, finely spotted and marked with small blotches of violet-grey, pale 

 red, and dull blood-red, some being much more marked than others; and in most the larger 

 markings are collected so as to form a sort of wreath round the larger end. In size the eggs of 

 the Linnet are a little larger than those of the Goldfinch. 



The specimens figured are the adult male and female in summer plumage above described. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



