BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
THE TWITE. Linota flavirostris (Linn«us). 
Local names— Mountain-Linnet ; Heathbr-Lintie. 
Of the Twite Sir William Jardine observes : "I have seen 
a flock here during the winter, frequenting wild stubble land 
Last wmter [1838] I shot a pair within a few hundred yards 
of Jardine Hall, evidently driven in by the storm. They 
were feeding on the heads of the Black Knapweed {Centaurea 
mgm). * In 1839 he wrote : " In the south of Scotland, 
and m England, the general time of appearance is in winter 
frequentmg nearly the same localities as the common 
Lmnet though perhaps selecting the more upland districts. 
. . . They are known to the southern bird-catchers by 
their cry, and the difference in this was in fact the first 
thmg that drew our own attention to them in the south of 
bcotland, their manners being in other respects similar 
to those of the last."t 
During autumn and winter, when Twites flock together, 
they become fairly well dispersed throughout the arable 
districts of the county, and are even met with on the lower 
moors until the weather becomes too severe. At this season 
a " crowding-down " of the more northerly-bred Twites 
takes place, and our resident numbers are for a time in- 
creased. Mr, Tom Brown states that in Tynron "great 
numbers of Twites frequent the lower ground, particularly 
helds m which Prunella vulgaris grows. "J 
The Twite appears to be weU known in the littoral parishes 
m winter, as also in Canonbie and Langholm. To Upper 
Nithsdale, Moffat, and Eskdalemuir, this bu-d is also an 
autumnal visitor, arriving at the latter end of September. 
* Naturalist, 1838-1839, Vol. IV., p. 387. 
t Nat. Lib., 1839, Vol. XI., pp. 286, 286. 
t Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, December 4th, 1885. 
