112 
LiimsT. 
the gorse, the broom, and the sloe. A few build m the south, 
but not farther than Thetford, Barham, and Calford, Norfolk, 
so far as I am aware, where Alfred Newton, Esq. has found 
the nests. In winter they may often be seen on the sea 
shore, as well as in the stubble fields. 
The Bev. J. Pemberton Bartlett, curate of Fordingbridge, 
Hampshire, has sent me the following anecdote of a Linnet. 
He says, Tn passing a low furze bush, my attention was 
attracted to a bird which fluttered and fell a few feet before 
me, as if in a fit. My first impulse was to step quickly 
forward and pick it up, the former of which I did, but when 
within about two feet of it, it rose and fluttered on a few 
yards further. Thinking it was wounded I again attempted 
to pick it up, when it again appeared to receive a fresh 
amount of strength, and made another intoxicated sort of 
progress of a few yards. This it did several times, and I 
began to doubt if I should catch it after all; when at last, 
to my great surprise, just as I was near enough to ‘put 
some salt on its tail,’ it rose up and flew away, twittering, 
(laughing at me as I found afterwards,) like the pertest and 
strongest Linnet in the world. At first I was puzzled to 
account for its very eccentric behaviour, but it struck me that 
possibly, like the Partridge, it might have performed the 
antics described to decoy me from its nest. I therefore 
returned, and searched the furze bush, where, sure enough, I 
found it with five eggs, which were still warm from the heat 
of that body which the faithful little bird had exposed for 
their preservation; for had I been so disposed, I could, with 
my stick, without difficulty, have knocked her down. This 
trait in the character of the Linnet was new to me, and 
delighted me much.’ 
The flight of this bird is quick and undulated—a series of 
curves performed by the alternate flappings and cessation of 
the motion of the wings. In flocks they glide and wheel 
about in a manner which, to the ornithologist, is pleasing to 
behold. On the ground, too, they are quick and sprightly in 
their movements, advancing by short leaps. 
Its food consists of the seeds of various plants—the dan¬ 
delion, the sow-thistle, the thistle, rape, flax, and such like. 
The note is soft, mellow, varied, and sweet, so that it is 
valued, unfortunately for it, as a cage bird, possessing, as it 
also does, the power to imitate the notes of others, even of 
the Nightingale; nay, to utter distinct sounds and articulate 
