LINNET. 
113 
words. A fine voice has proved the ruin of many, and not 
only of birds. Meyer suggests that its name of ‘Linnet’ is 
[derived from its ordinary call. 
The nest is commonly placed in heath, grass, furze, or 
gorse, and is neatly constructed, being formed of small twigs 
and stalks of grass, intermixed with moss and wool, and lined 
with hair and feathers. It is occasionally placed in a bush 
or tree, and has been known at a height of ten or twelve 
feet from the ground. 
The eggs are from four to six in number, of a bluish white 
colour, spotted, most so at the larger end, with purple grey 
iand reddish brown; some are of a reddish black colour without 
spots, and some, exceptional ones, have been known pure 
white. 
The young are usually able to fly by the end of May, and 
there are mostly two broods in the season. 
Male; length, five inches and three quarters; bill, dusky 
above, pale greyish blue beneath, the tip darker; iris, deep 
brown: over it is an indistinct line of greyish yellow, and 
j another below it. Forehead, red, the feathers tipped with 
; greyish brown; head, streaked on the crown with grejdsh 
j brown and yellowish grey, the central part of each feather 
being of the former colour; on the sides, yellowish brown 
: grey; neck in front, yellowish grey, streaked with greyish 
brown or light reddish brown; chin and throat, a mixture of 
brown and grey; breast, brown or dull red on the upper part 
in winter, bright red in spring—sometimes the red colour 
, entirely fades out in the winter—the feathers are broadly 
; margined with yellowish grey; on the sides it is yellowish 
| grey, the feathers streaked with brown, which nearly wears 
off in summer; lower down it is light brownish grey, palest 
| on the middle. Back, deep reddish brown, the central parts 
: of the feathers darker, their edges yellowish grey. 
The wings expand to the width of nine inches and three 
quarters; greater and lesser wing coverts, reddish brown, the 
i central parts of the feathers darker, their edges yellowish 
grey; in the summer they are wholly reddish brown; primaries, 
brownish black, margined externally, excepting towards the 
end, with white, the five first broadly so, forming a conspicuous 
mark on the wing: the first and second quills are equal in 
length, the first sometimes the longest, the third scarcely 
shorter, the fourth a quarter of an inch shorter than the 
third. Secondaries and tertiaries, brownish black, margined 
