MISCELLANY. 
387 
in the North Highlands, taking the place there in Summer of the Common Lin¬ 
net, L. cannabina , in the Lowlands. 44 Once or twice,” this gentleman observes, 
44 I have seen a flock here during the Winter, frequenting wild stubble land. 
Last Winter 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 Knap¬ 
weed, Centaurea nigra .” 
Mr. Selby 44 found it a plentiful species, and generally distributed, in Suther¬ 
land shire. It was first met with at Laing, and afterwards occurred at all the 
different stations that were occupied. Its song was pleasing, though scarcely 
equal in compass to that of L. cannabina .” 
The Rev. Mr. Low states, in his Fauna Orcadensis , that 44 this little bird 
remains in the Orkneys all the year, building in the Heath, but seldom or never 
in bushes.” Mr. J. D. Salmon, who furnished to Mr. Loudon’s Magazine of 
Natural History an account of a visit to the Orkneys, has remarked that 44 The 
Mountain Linnet was the only species of Linnet seen by the party; two nests 
came under our observation; one was placed upon the ground, among the young 
corn, the other amidst some Whins, Ulex. They were both alike : their outsides 
were composed of small roots and dried Grass; and their insides lined with a 
small quantity of hair and a few feathers; and each contained six eggs, similar 
in appearance to those of the Common Linnet, but rather smaller.” 
Mr. Dunn, in his Ornithologists Guide to Orkney and Shetland , says of the 
Mountain Linnet, or, as it is there called, the Heather Lintee, this, 44 as far as 
I am aware, is the only Linnet that breeds in these countries, over which it is 
pretty numerously dispersed. I have repeatedly taken its nest, which I found in 
shaded situations amongst long Heath. In the Winter it appears in large flocks, 
frequently in company with Sparrows and Snow Buntings, and infests the corn- 
yards.” Our Southern bird-catchers say they can tell immediately if there are 
any Mountain Linnets among the flocks of small birds around them, by their 
particular note, which is considered to resemble the word 44 twitein its sound, 
and hence the name of Twite, by which, as well as by that of Mountain Linnet, 
this bird is very generally known. Its food consists of any sort of seed of small 
size.— Yarrell’s History of British Birds. 
Sagacity of the Dog. —There used formerly to be as many Dogs as men at 
the Kirk of Twuidsmuir, Peeblesshire, on account of the difficulty which the 
farmers and shepherds of that pastoral district had in preventing their canine 
attendants from following them. The Dogs, in general, behaved pretty well, and 
lay below the seats; still noisy quarrels among them sometimes took place, and 
on these occasions the minister had to order the beadle to turn out the disturbers 
of the peace. With these exceptions, they kept in tolerably good order till the 
congregation was going to disperse. From long attendance at church, they knew 
vot. iv.— no. xxxi. 3 ^ 
