THE LINNET.cluster of flowers and grassMaleLinnets vary almost as much in the colour of their feathers as they do in the quality of their songs. A fine specimen, arrayed in all the glory of his summer dress, has the forehead and crown glossy blood-red, the rest of the head black, and sides of the neck brownish-grey, back and upper wing coverts deep reddish-brown; wing quills dusky, edged with white; upper tail coverts dark brown; tail quills brownish-black, edged with white, except in the case of the two centre feathers; chin and throat greyish-white, streaked along the middle with greyish-brown; breast glossy rose-red. The last-named colour varies greatly in intensity, and in some birds is almostabsent. In fact, as Yarrell says, perfect specimens are not often met with, and the carmine cap and breast are generally replaced by brownish lake-red.Some adult male Linnets have lemon-yellow breasts, and in Germany are considered old birds and the best singers.The female is a trifle smaller than the male and lacks the red on the top of the head and breast.LINNET’S NEST AND EGGSLINNET’S NEST AND EGGS.This species is distinguished from the Lesser Redpole by having no white bar on the wings and no black upon the chin, and from the Twite, with which it is likely to be confused, by the facts that it has a shorter and less deeply forked tail and the male lacking the red on his rump.Last spring I spent two days on a Surrey common photographing theStonechat figuring in the little picture which decorates the front cover of this book. He was bringing food to his offspring in a nest situated amongst some stunted heather growing in a sheltered dell formed by two gorse-clad ridges about eighty feet in height and a hundred yards apart. Although many Linnets were still roaming the countryside in flocks, numbers were busy love-making and pairing close around me, and I shall never forget the sweetness of the twittering and warbling that went on all day long.The carols were generally sung from the topmost spray of some furze bush, which was a golden blaze of bloom, but occasionally the vocalist would utter his sweetest notes when dropping gracefully through the air to some intended resting-place.This bird has received a great deal of attention from the poets, some of whom have described its song as a “careless lay” and others as a“None-offending song of quiet prettiness.”The call note of the species is a shrilltwit, twitandwee, tye wee.LINNET BRINGING FOODLINNET BRINGING FOOD FOR YOUNG.A Linnet’s nest is made of small twigs,fibrous roots, dry grass, stems, moss, and wool, with an inner lining of hair, feathers, rabbit and vegetable down; and is situated in gorse, and broom bushes, white and black thorn bushes, tall heather, and juniper. I have found a nest ten feet from the ground, and two nests quite upon it.The eggs number four to six, are greyish-white in ground colour, tinged with blue or green and speckled and spotted with purple-red and reddish-brown.A very strange thing about this species is that it appears to grow shyer during the breeding season, whereas nearly all other birds grow bolder. This peculiar characteristic, of course, increases the difficulty of photographing the creature.Linnets flock together as soon as the breeding season is over—some of them to migrate, and others to wander about the country visiting stubble fields and waste lands in search of seeds. It is a very pleasant sight to watch a flock resting on the sunlit top of some tall tree on a fine winter’s day, and hear the sociable little birds holding a kind of chattering concert.It is almost needless to add that the Linnet is a great favourite as a cage pet.Specimens caught in the autumn soon adapt themselves to confinement, but those taken in the spring frequently mope and die. One has been known to live as many as fourteen years in a cage, but I have never yet heard of a specimen in confinement donning the crimson colour on its head or breast.The species has derived its name in several European countries from its fondness for linseed.lane through woods
cluster of flowers and grass
MaleLinnets vary almost as much in the colour of their feathers as they do in the quality of their songs. A fine specimen, arrayed in all the glory of his summer dress, has the forehead and crown glossy blood-red, the rest of the head black, and sides of the neck brownish-grey, back and upper wing coverts deep reddish-brown; wing quills dusky, edged with white; upper tail coverts dark brown; tail quills brownish-black, edged with white, except in the case of the two centre feathers; chin and throat greyish-white, streaked along the middle with greyish-brown; breast glossy rose-red. The last-named colour varies greatly in intensity, and in some birds is almostabsent. In fact, as Yarrell says, perfect specimens are not often met with, and the carmine cap and breast are generally replaced by brownish lake-red.
Some adult male Linnets have lemon-yellow breasts, and in Germany are considered old birds and the best singers.
The female is a trifle smaller than the male and lacks the red on the top of the head and breast.
LINNET’S NEST AND EGGSLINNET’S NEST AND EGGS.
LINNET’S NEST AND EGGS.
This species is distinguished from the Lesser Redpole by having no white bar on the wings and no black upon the chin, and from the Twite, with which it is likely to be confused, by the facts that it has a shorter and less deeply forked tail and the male lacking the red on his rump.
Last spring I spent two days on a Surrey common photographing theStonechat figuring in the little picture which decorates the front cover of this book. He was bringing food to his offspring in a nest situated amongst some stunted heather growing in a sheltered dell formed by two gorse-clad ridges about eighty feet in height and a hundred yards apart. Although many Linnets were still roaming the countryside in flocks, numbers were busy love-making and pairing close around me, and I shall never forget the sweetness of the twittering and warbling that went on all day long.
The carols were generally sung from the topmost spray of some furze bush, which was a golden blaze of bloom, but occasionally the vocalist would utter his sweetest notes when dropping gracefully through the air to some intended resting-place.
This bird has received a great deal of attention from the poets, some of whom have described its song as a “careless lay” and others as a
“None-offending song of quiet prettiness.”
“None-offending song of quiet prettiness.”
“None-offending song of quiet prettiness.”
The call note of the species is a shrilltwit, twitandwee, tye wee.
LINNET BRINGING FOODLINNET BRINGING FOOD FOR YOUNG.
LINNET BRINGING FOOD FOR YOUNG.
A Linnet’s nest is made of small twigs,fibrous roots, dry grass, stems, moss, and wool, with an inner lining of hair, feathers, rabbit and vegetable down; and is situated in gorse, and broom bushes, white and black thorn bushes, tall heather, and juniper. I have found a nest ten feet from the ground, and two nests quite upon it.
The eggs number four to six, are greyish-white in ground colour, tinged with blue or green and speckled and spotted with purple-red and reddish-brown.
A very strange thing about this species is that it appears to grow shyer during the breeding season, whereas nearly all other birds grow bolder. This peculiar characteristic, of course, increases the difficulty of photographing the creature.
Linnets flock together as soon as the breeding season is over—some of them to migrate, and others to wander about the country visiting stubble fields and waste lands in search of seeds. It is a very pleasant sight to watch a flock resting on the sunlit top of some tall tree on a fine winter’s day, and hear the sociable little birds holding a kind of chattering concert.
It is almost needless to add that the Linnet is a great favourite as a cage pet.Specimens caught in the autumn soon adapt themselves to confinement, but those taken in the spring frequently mope and die. One has been known to live as many as fourteen years in a cage, but I have never yet heard of a specimen in confinement donning the crimson colour on its head or breast.
The species has derived its name in several European countries from its fondness for linseed.
lane through woods