linotte

la linotte (FR N-F) robin, small songbird (family Turdidae, subfamily Saxicolinae) with a brown back and red breast plumage. The red breast feathers are a »badge« used in territorial defense rather than courtship, and both sexes have the red breast. They defend their territory separately in winter, jointly in summer. First appears in French in the 13th century, from lin (linen plant, the bird being a great eater of its seeds). (Silvestre)