with Linnets, twitting almost incessantly as they fly, apparently for the purpose of keeping their numbers together; while they search the alder, birch, and larch trees for seeds as food. Their note very much resembles that of the Lesser Redpole. Macgillivray says that the Siskin appears in autumn and winter, in large flocks, feeding on the seeds of thistles and other composita, as well as on those of the birch and alder, which it extracts from the cones. When engaged in this manner, it clings to the twigs in all sorts of attitudes, and is commonly so intent on its occupation as to allow a person to approach unobserved. It has, of late years, been found breeding in England and Scotland; and it is probable that most, if not all, of the individuals seen in this country in the winter months are indigenous.' Among other authorities cited by this author in proof of the Siskin's breeding in Scotland, is Mr. Weir, who gives this account of the habits of the bird: About the latter end of May 1834, as I was returning from Bathgate, I was astonished at seeing, on the parish road between it and my house, a pair of Siskins feeding very greedily on the ripe tops of the dandelion. The head of the male was very dark, and the yellow on the wings uncommonly rich. I followed them for several hundred yards, being exceedingly anxious to discover their nest. In this, however, I did not succeed, as they flew off to a colerable distance, when I lost sight of them. Several individuals with whom I was acquainted told me they had seen them near to the place where I had formerly started them. I again and again renewed my search, but without success. A few days after this, when persons were catching Rose Linnets with birdlime in a small park belonging to me, they were struck with an unusual chirping of young birds in a spruce, which was planted in the middle of a very strong hawthorn hedge. When they were looking into the tree in order to discover what kind of birds they were, they immediately flew out of the nest, and, being ripe, effected their escape. They appeared to have a resemblance to the female Siskin. The nest was a small one; it was built upon two branches, one side of it resting upon the trunk of the tree. It was about five and a half feet from the ground, and within twelve yards of the north Glasgow road, and was one of the best concealed nests I ever saw. The old Siskins, with their four young ones, were seen for two or three weeks afterwards in the immediate neighbourhood. CHAPTER XVII. LINNETS AND CROSSBILLS LINNETS THE BROWN, GREEN, AND MOUNTAIN LESSER AND MEALY REDPOLES --- COMMON AND PARROT CROSSBILLS. BROWN LINNET (Linaria canabina), variously I called the Grey, Rose, on whin Linen, the router Redpole, Lintie, or Lintwhite. The genus Linaria of the Passerine birds contains four British species, of which the above is the largest and most common. Its length is about five inches and a quarter; and the prevailing colours of its plumage are reddish brown and grey. But these vary greatly, according to sex, age, and season. Hence the variety of names given to the bird, which is generally distributed throughout Britain, and is found at all seasons by those who look for it. In summer it is chiefly in the hilly and mountainous parts, or generally where there are thickets of broom, whin, or sloebushes, or even where the herbage is rank, or the heather attains an unusual size, on the slopes of craggy braes and glens. Through leafy groves the cushat roves, The path of man to shun it, The hazel bush o'erhangs the Thrush, sings Burns; and an anonymous poet, quoted by Neville Wood, tells us that. The Lintie on the heathery brae (Where lies the nest among the ferns), Begins to lilt at break o' day, And at the gloamin' hails the sterns; or, as we should say in England, and in plain prose, ‘hails the stars in the twilight of evening.' 250 THE COMMON LINNET. In these summer retreats, as Macgillivray tells us, The male, perched on a twig or stone, pours forth his sweet notes, while his mate is brooding over her precious charge. But the song of the Linnet, pleasant as it may be when heard in a room, has little effect on the hill side, compared with that of the Mavis or Merle; although to the shepherd swain, reclining on the soft moss on a sloping bank overgrown with 'the lang yellow broom,' or the weary traveller resting awhile by the wayside, it may seem gentle as the melody of the primeval groves of lost Paradise, filling the soul with pleasing thoughts. The nest of the Linnet is generally placed on a bush of furze or heath, or among brushwood, and is neatly constructed, being formed externally of blades and stalks of grass intermingled with moss and wool, and lined with hair of various animals. The eggs are from four to six, of a regular oval form, about ninetwelfths of an inch long, colour blueish white, distinctly spotted thinly with purplish grey and reddish brown. The young are usually abroad by the end of May, and there are commonly two broods. Close by the levelled rock, with twisted stem, Grahame's poetical address to the Linnet is extremely good: When whinny braes are garlanded with gold, To pine, may ne'er the glowing wire (oh, crime accurst!) Of day, the only pleasure, be denied? But thy own song will still be left; with it, Darkling, thou 'lt soothe the lingering hours away; Thy seed box, and thy beverage saffron tinged. Allusion is here made to the cruel practice of depriving song birds of sight, with a red-hot iron, under the impres BOLD IN DEFENCE OF ITS YOUNG. 251 sion that they would sing better if their attention was not diverted by outward surrounding objects. Stanley, in his Familiar History of Birds,' relates an incident which illustrates very forcibly the affection of the Linnet for its young: Timid as birds are, attachment to their young will frequently change their very nature, and inspire a boldness and confidence in these little creatures, which calls for respect and admiration. What can be more interesting than the affection of the two Linnets we are about to mention ? A nest, containing four young ones scarcely fledged, was found by some children, who resolved to carry them home, for the purpose of rearing and taming the young birds. The old ones, attracted by their chirping, continued fluttering round the children till they reached the house, when the nest was carried up stairs to the nursery, and placed outside the window. The old birds soon afterwards made their appearance, approached the nest, and fed the family, without showing alarm. This being noticed, the nest was soon afterwards placed on a table in the middle of the apartment, and the window left open. The parent birds came boldly in, and fed their offspring as before. Still further to put their attachment to the test, the nest and young ones were placed within a bird-cage; still the old ones returned, entered boldly within the cage, and supplied the wants of their brood as before, and, towards evening, actually perched on the cage, regardless of the noise made around them by several children. This continued for several days, when an unlucky accident put an end to it. The cage had been again set on the outside of the window, and was unfortunately left exposed to a sudden and heavy fall of rain; the consequence was that the whole of the young were drowned in the nest. The poor parents, who had so boldly and indefatigably performed their duty, continued hovering round the house, and looking wistfully in at the window, for several days, and then disappeared. Mudie says, In the flocking time, against which the male has lost the red on the breast, Linnets fly very close and crowded, but with a smooth and straightforward flight. On the ground they hop, and have not so much command of themselves as Chaffinches, and they accordingly spend more of their time on the wing. They wheel about in masses, and perch on trees, and though they have no song in the winter, they all chirp at the same time. When the weather begins to get warm, their short but pleasant song commences, before they retire to the breeding-grounds, or the plumage of the male changes; and though their song is not so full then as after they have betaken themselves to the wilds, the crowds that are in song on the same tree make a lively concert. 252 CHANGES OF PLUMAGE. The singing of the males while yet in the brown plumage, and the fact that it is difficult to have caged birds in any other, appear to be the chief causes of the confusion that there is about the species. If the males are taken young, they moult into the winter plumage, and do not change it; if they are taken in the flocking time, they retain the brown plumage in their moults; and if they are captured in the summer, which, from the wildness of their haunts, and the wild habits of the birds, is not a very common case, they lose the red on the first moult, and never regain it afterwards. In summer, too, the female is very apt to be mistaken for the male. When one comes suddenly upon him, attracted by his song, which in the wilds is particularly cheerful, he instantly drops into the bush, before his plumage can be very carefully noticed; and if one beats the bush, out hops a brown bird, the female, and gets credit for the song of her mate. The deception, or the mistake, is further increased by the male ceasing his song and raising his alarm-call as soon as he is seen, and until he disappears in the bush, for he does not generally fly out; but the female does, and, as is the habit of the female in many birds, she offers herself to the enemy, that is, tempts him by short flights, to wile him away from the nest; and, when the coast is clear, she again flies into the bush, chirping softly the note of safety; and soon after the male resumes his song. Thus, though it is the male that is heard, it is the female that is most frequently seen. Robert Nicol has addressed a sweet poem to this bird, which we would fain quote here. THE LINNET. The songs of Nature, holiest, best are they! Is thine, poured forth from hedge and thicket dim, The poor, the scorned and lowly, forth may go Like sunshine glancing o'er the summer scene. Linnet! wild Linnet! |