SONG BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



tion, will build their nests and rear their offspring 

 in the same neighbourhood. 



The Linnet (says Mr. Mudie) is partially a mi- 

 grant within the country, though the sexes do 

 not separate in the same decided manner as the 

 Chaffinches. During the inclement season, the 

 birds resort to the lower grounds, especially to 

 those near the sea-shore. They appear in con- 

 siderable flocks : the young birds appear earliest, 

 then the females, and lastly the mature males ; 

 which may be said to be the order of movement 

 with all autumnal birds, how limited soever may 

 be the distance to which they do migrate. 



In the flocking time, against which the male has 

 lost the red on the breast, Linnets fly very close 

 and crowded, but with a smooth and straightfor- 

 ward flight. On the ground, they hop, and have 

 not so much command of themselves as Chaffinches ; 

 and they accordingly spend more of their time on 

 the wing. They wheel about in masses, and perch 

 on trees ; and though they have no song in the 

 winter, they all chirp at the same time in one gene- 

 ral chorus. When the weather begins to get warm, 

 their short but pleasant song commences before they 

 retire to the breeding grounds, or the plumage of 

 the male changes ; and though their song is not so 

 full then as after they have betaken themselves to 

 the wilds, the crowds that are in song on the same 

 tree make a lively concert.* 



The Linnet commonly builds in a thick bush 

 or hedge, and sometimes among furze bushes on 



* Mudie's British Birds. 



