438 
THE LINNET'S HOME. 
of an overmastering jealousy. At length, their song grows louder, 
clearer, and more joyous ; for a suitable position has been discovered — a 
forked branch near the crest of a tree, an old knotty bough which will 
soon be hidden by a screen of greenery, a pollard willow, or even 
the thatched roof of a barn or a peasant's cottage. 
Few, if any, of our home-birds build a prettier nest, or one more 
artistically wrought. Its shape is that of a truncated sphere, — which 
sounds very scientific, but may be Englished into the bowl of an egg- 
cup. The materials, we have spoken of ; they are felted together with 
spiders' threads, and the general colouring is a bi-ownish-gray, like that 
of the gnarled branch on which it rests. The interior forms a dee-p cavity, 
luxuriously lined with soft hairs and feathers, softer wool, and softest 
vegetable down. 
THE LINNET. 
" Through leafy groves the cushat roves, 
The path of man to shun it, 
The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush, 
The spreading thorn the Unnet," — 
so sings Robert Burns, and his song reminds us of one of the most 
charming of British song-birds, whose soft, sweet strain seems to the 
traveller resting awhile by the wayside " gentle as the melody of 
the primeval groves of lost Paradise, filling the soul with pleasing 
thoughts." There is no dejjth in the song, however ; none of that 
suggestion, so to speak, of exultant aspirations which we feel and re- 
cognize in the full, living melody of the lark ; none of that richness of 
passion which wells out of the heart of the nightingale. It is blithe, 
sunny, agreeable, and harmonizes well with the glow of summer 
days and the brightness of gi-een pastures and leafy groves. The 
linnet generally builds her nest among the brushwood, or in the 
heart of a furze bush ; and approves herself a neat and dexterous 
worker. Externally it is formed of blades and stems of grass, closely 
interwoven with bits of moss and wool, and lined with hair of vari- 
ous animals. Nothing to wonder at, perhaps, and yet quite worthy of 
admiration ; especially when we remember that the compact and cozy 
structure is constructed with no other tool than the bird's tiny bill. 
