PASSERINE. LINOTA. 
199 
line straigM, the ridge broad and rounded, the sides convex, 
the edges inflected ; gape-line nearly straight. Mouth nar- 
row ; both mandibles deeply concave ; tongue sagittate, nar- 
row, grooved above, the tip slightly bifid ; oesophagus dilated 
into a crop ; proventriculus elliptical ; stomach roundish, com- 
pressed, with very strong lateral muscles, and radiated ten- 
dons, its cuticular lining dense and longitudinally rugous ; 
intestine of moderate length, rather wide ; coeca very small, 
cylindrical. Nostrils circular, basal, concealed by the re- 
flected feathers. Eyes of moderate size. Ears large, ellip- 
tical. Head oblong, ratber large ; neck short ; body com- 
pact. Legs short ; tarsus compressed, with seven scutella ; 
toes slender, compressed, arched, laterally grooved, acute. 
Plumage soft, blended ; wings rather long, broad, with seven- 
teen quills, the outer three longest and about equal ; tail 
rather short, emarginate. 
The Linnets are intimately allied to the genera Carduelis, 
Fringilla, Chlorospiza, and Passer. They are small, lively, 
and generally prettily, though not gaudily, coloured birds, of 
which four are found in Britain. I have adopted the generic 
name Linota, proposed by the Prince of Canino, in place of 
Linaria, because the latter is used for a genus of plants. 
124 . Linota cannabina. Brown Linnet. 
Male in winter with the bill dusky above ; the throat yel- 
lowish-grey, streaked with brown ; back and wing- coverts red- 
dish-brown, streaked with darker ; forehead and breast with 
the feathers dark red in their covered parts. Female with the 
upper parts streaked with dusky brown and greenish-yellow, 
the lower light yellowish-grey ; the throat, breast, and sides 
streaked with yellowish-brown. Male in summer with the 
bill greyish-black above ; the throat whitish, streaked with 
brown ; back and wing-coverts reddish-brown without streaks ; 
forehead and breast crimson or rose-red, the grey tips of the 
feathers being worn ofl*. Young similar to the female, streaked 
above with umber-brown, and greyish-yellow, the lower parts 
light yellowish, more largely streaked with brown. 
The colours of this species are so much brighter in summer, 
when the tips of the feathers have been abraded, and the tints 
heightened by the action of the light, that many persons can 
hardly be persuaded that the Bose Linnet is merely the Brown 
