FINCHES. 
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Citril Finch. 
primaries being edged with bright yellow; the tail-feathers are blackish, edged 
with yellow, and all but the central feathers yellow at the base; the chin is black, 
and the throat and breast are bright yellow. 
A less well-known member of the siskin group is the citril finch 
(' G. citrinella), which is an inhabitant of the Tyrol, many parts of 
Switzerland, Greece, and other districts in the south of Europe. Avoiding the 
plains, this bird generally nests among pine-forests, as far as possible from human 
habitations. In the Jura, Mr. Scott Wilson states that after some search his party 
at length discovered a nest of this finch “ placed high up in a spruce-fir, at the 
extreme end of a branch. The chasseur climbed up, and brought down the nest 
with three eggs. This nest, which contained several feathers of the nutcracker, 
was cup-shaped, and constructed chiefly of dry grass stems, moss, and thistle-down, 
woven together with fine roots and hair, lined with thistle-down and feathers. 
Another nest contained no feathers, being lined entirely with thistle-down. A 
third was lined entirely with hair, and very little thistle-down had been used 
in its construction.” The eggs are greenish blue in ground-colour, speckled with 
reddish grey and blood-red. The citril finch is a favourite among continental bird 
fanciers, being easily tamed, and occasionally hybridising with other finches in 
captivity. Although it passes the summer among the mountain forests, it descends 
from the higher grounds during severe weather. It is valued as a cage-bird, 
principally because it possesses a loud, pleasant song, sometimes compared to that 
of the canary. The adult male in breeding-plumage has the general colour above 
dull olive-green, with dusky shaft-streaks to the feathers; the rump and upper 
tail-coverts being brighter yellow; the nape and sides of the throat are ashy grey; 
the wings and tail dusky brown, edged with ashy yellow; and the crown of the 
head, as well as the feathers round the eye, the fore-part of the cheeks, and the 
throat and chest olive-yellow. 
The linnets have a hard and conical bill, a somewhat pointed 
wing, the tail rather long and forked, the metatarsus short, and the 
toes stout. They are also characterised by the possession of a nearly uniform 
brown or whitish brown plumage, generally associated to some small extent with 
pale crimson. Chiefly found in the northern parts of the Old World, they are 
also represented in the Arctic portions of North America. 
The common linnet (Linaria cannabina ) inhabits most parts of 
Europe, being generally common from Spain eastwards to Central 
Asia, although assuming brighter plumage in Turkestan and other distant parts of 
its range. The linnet in England frequents commons covered with gorse, in which 
its nest is often placed ; but sometimes it nests in a hedge or small tree. Generally 
an early breeder, we have seen the young in the nest as late as the month of 
August. It builds a loose, untidy nest of fine twigs and fibres lined with hair, 
wool, and sometimes a few feathers, in which it lays from four to six eggs of a 
greenish white ground-colour, blotched with red. After the breeding-season linnets 
range through the fields in vast flocks, often composed of one sex almost exclusively. 
As autumn advances, many of the linnets that have been bred in the English 
woodlands cross the sea to other countries; while others again join company 
with bands of greenfinches in search of food. The linnet is frequently white 
Linnets. 
Common Linnet. 
