Linnet

Linnet, the finch genus Binotce, especially L. cannatina, a common British bird, which, as a species, is resident, though large flocks arrive in spring and leave in autumn. The length is about six inches, and the plumage brown. Red, grey, and brown linnets are names for the same bird in different dress. They prefer uncultivated lands, and feed chiefly on the seeds of flax and hemp, whence their name in many European languages. L. fiavirostris is the Mountain Linnet, L. linaria the Mealy, and L. canescens the Mealy Redpoll [Greenfinch.]