LINNETS, 493 



spots of brownish black, purplish grey, and reddish brown. Should 

 the nest be destroyed during incubation, the pair will build again, 

 and lay two or three sets of eggs, if needful ; but the male is said to 

 take no part in the building or incubation, although he watches 

 the female with great solicitude, supplying her with food during the 

 process. 



The Linnets feed principally on hemp and linseed, whence their 

 popular name. In the winter season, in the absence of their 

 favourite food, they eat the young buds of trees, and pick up the 



Fig. 2ii. — The Chaffinch. 



stray seeds about farm-yards. Their song in confinement is remark- 

 ably sweet, brilliant, and varied, but does not equal the thrilling 

 voice of the Blackbird or Thrush. The species are numerous, both 

 in Europe and in America, but there is a tendency by naturalists 

 to reduce their number, and to regard them more as varieties than 

 entitled to the greater term of distinction. 



The Chaffinch (Fringilla ccelebs, Fig. 211) lives in flocks, like 

 the Goldfinch and Linnets, except when breeding. But they differ 

 from these members of the group in this — that their wing is less 

 compact, and that they disperse themselves more in search of food 

 than their congeners. Chaffinches are met with all over Europe, 



