They may be found in all kinds of country, generally associating with other Finches and Buntings, but they are rather more partial to woods, gardens, and orchards. Their song bears a family resemblance to that of the Linnet, but is not so melodious or sweet. This bird is very tame and confiding, and may often be watched as it moves about in the trees of some orchard, examining them carefully for insects and reminding one in its actions of the Tits. The male has the upper parts of a warm brown with darker streaks. Lores and throat black; the crown, rump, and breast are carmine; rest of the under parts whitish, becoming browner with dark streaks on the flanks. In autumn the red tints on the rump and breast are much obscured by the broader pale edgings to the feathers. The female is rather smaller than the male and lacks the red on the breast and rump. The breast is buff with dark stripes, and the rump similar in colour to the mantle but paler. The young resemble the hen but lack the red on the crown. Length 4·75 in.; wing 2·75 in. In winter this species shows far more red on the breast than does the Mealy Redpoll at the same time of year. THE TWITE Linota flavirostris (Linnæus) Inhabiting moorlands and breeding among the heather, this gregarious species may be found from the Midlands northwards. In England, however, it cannot be called common, but in parts of North Wales, Scotland, and Ireland it is abundant. It nests in colonies, the nests being placed on the ground or in a low bush; they are neatly made of rootlets, pieces of heather, and moss, lined with hair and wool. The eggs, like those of the other Redpolls, are blue spotted with red. Two broods are reared in the season, and as soon as the first brood is fledged the whole colony will sometimes move off to an adjacent spot for the second brood, so that they may be found with young in the nest one week, and a few days later no sign of them or their young will be found at that spot. During the summer their food consists largely of insects, while seeds form their chief diet in winter. After the breeding season they leave the upper moorlands and wander south, a fair number reaching the south of England, especially in severe winters. It chiefly frequents the wild open country and marshes by the sea-shore, but in the more wooded localities it is rarely found and it seldom perches on trees. It has a pleasing little song and the call-note is a loud “twah-it,” whence its English name of Twite.