LINNET (AS. /Mete, OF., Fr. final, linnet, from Lat. Hawn, flax; so called from their feed ing on flaxseed). A finch of the genus Linaria, or some near relative. The size is small. the tail forked, and the colors brown mixed with white, and more or less flushed with erimson, especially in the spring dress of the male. All belong to northerly regions. The linnet (.1eunthis, or Lina ria, ennnabina)is well known through Europe and Northern Asia. In its winter plumage its pre vailing color is brown, the quill and tail feathers black with white edges; in the nuptial plumage the crown of the head and the breast are bright vermilion color, and a general brightening of color takes place over the rest of the plumage. 'this elninge of plumage causes it to be designated by fanciers as brown. gray, or rose linnet, ae eording to the season of the year and the sex. It is the Untie of the Sootch. The sweetness of its song makes it everywhere a favorite. It sings well in a cage. and readily hreeds in con finement, hut the brightness of the nuptial plum age never appears. The linnet abounds chiefly in
somewhat open districts. and seems to prefer uncultivated and furze-covered grounds. Its nest is very often in a furze-buslt or hawthorn hed7e, and is fanned of small twigs and stems of grass, nicely lined with wool or hair; the eggs are four or five in number. pale bluish white. speckled with purple and brown. Linnets con gregate in large flocks in winter, and in great part desert the uplands. and resort to the sea coast. In the Eastern United States the name is sometimes given to the redpolls (q.v.) and to the purple finch (Curpodueus purpurews), a hand some bird over six inches long. The male in full plumage has the head and anterior parts of the body rose-purple, in the same milliner us the true linnet. The female is plain brown, much streaked. See CAGE-BIRDS, and the illustrations and authorities cited thereunder.