Above, on the giant downs, were stony waste places, and heather and gorse, where the rabbits live, and had for neighbours the adder, linnet, and wheatear, and the small grey titlark that soared up and dropped back to earth all day to his tinkling little tune.
"Afoot in England"
W.H. Hudson
He replies, that his song is but like that of the linnet-joyous indeed when her brood first flies, but sad when the nest has been rifled of her young.
"A Key to Lord Tennyson's 'In Memoriam'"
Alfred Gatty
The pheasant ventured with her young brood beyond the cover-edge; the partridge carried her chicks across the stubble; and finch, sparrow, and linnet were forming their respective families into full-fledged cohorts-in preparation for those dark, chill days, when they should need such companionship to cheer them.
"The White Gauntlet"
Mayne Reid