106 FRINOILLTD.E. 



more warmly bedded and lined within. The eggs of this 

 species vary greatly in size, form, and colour ; some are 

 simply speckled around the zone with rufous-brown, and 

 reddish-lilac ; while others resemble exactly the goldfinch's 

 egg represented in figure 109. Some present only a few 

 spots of a reddish-black colour, irregularly disposed, and 

 others are occasionally found without any spots whatever. 

 Of the latter we have an example in a nest containing four 

 eggs, of a pure milk-white. The Linnet occasionally builds 

 in gardens, but we have observed it to be more shy than 

 the nightingale, the redbreast, the greenfinch, and many 

 others, being more inclined to forsake its nest if watched 

 or observed. 



The Linnet has many good qualities in its character and 

 habits : it delights the lover of nature nearly at all seasons, 

 with its varied and cheerful song, which is continued nearly 

 the whole year. Their winter chorus, often poured forth 

 simultaneously from many little throats, has been observed 

 and alluded to by various authors, particularly Sir W. Jar- 

 dine. Mr. Hepburn also describes the choral bursts of as- 

 sembled hundreds on a hedgerow tree, in a calm winter's 

 day, enlivening the bleak and desolate fields. In its habits 

 this is a harmless species, contenting itself with the seeds of 

 many of the spontaneous productions of the soil, — such as 

 the southistle, and dandelion, the common thistle, &c., also 

 the seeds of rape and other cruciform plants ; hemp, flax, &c. 



Linnets are somewhat terrestrial in their habits, feeding- 

 much upon the ground, especially in winter, when they 

 chiefly frequent stubble-lands : they roost, however, in hedge- 

 rows and bushes. They are gregarious in autumn and win- 

 ter, at which seasons they associate in considerable flocks. 

 They settle in numbers together upon the ground to feed, 

 and when roused, fly off to a little distance uttering a 

 chirping sound. Their flight is springing and light, and 



