TWITE 71 
be a young bird; I feel quite satisfied however that it is 
not. The bill is too hard for that of a young bird. The 
birds which we saw were flying about in pairs, and I have 
no doubt that they have nests, as they seemed not to enjoy 
our presence, but kept flying about in an angry manner and 
sometimes sitting quite close to us.’ 
On 19th July Dr. Crellin again writes from Orrisdale: ‘I 
have now had the good fortune to ascertain beyond a doubt 
that the Twite or Mountain Linnet breeds here also. I 
shot one a few days ago, which had the rose-coloured spot 
(about the size of one’s thumb-nail) at the lower end of the 
back. I have seen several pairs of them.’ He speaks of 
their note as having ‘quite a different sound from that of 
the Redpoll’ (Linnet), ‘being much more hoarse or croaky, 
and says, ‘Though I never to my knowledge noticed the 
bird till within the last month, I know it now perfectly 
well from any other bird as soon as I hear it. As Mr. 
Moffat remarks, these descriptions leave little room for 
doubt that Dr. Crellin found the Twite breeding both in 
the north and south of the island. There is a specimen 
still at Orrisdale. 
The Twite, an inhabitant of mountains and high wild 
coastlands, breeds in suitable localities all over Ireland, 
including those counties nearest to Man. In Kirkeud- 
brightshire, according to Mr. Service, few breed, and it is 
more common in winter; but in Wigtownshire Gray and 
Anderson say that it is generally distributed. 
In England it is a northern and to some extent western 
species. It nests, not very generally, on the moorlands of 
the counties opposite us. It is not regarded as breeding in 
Furness, but does so on some of the mosses of the Solway 
and of south Lancashire. It occurs in west Carnarvon- 
shire. It is a common and characteristic bird of the 
Scottish islands. 
