38 WOOD NOTES WILD. 



The linnet has been described as " red " and also as 

 "purple," but really he seems to be neither. He has a 

 reddish back and neck, and his head is almost red. The 

 female has no red in her complexion. The linnets are 

 social, building in our orchards, oftener in the evergreens. 

 They are kind and peaceful birds, yet ever ready to 

 avenge an insult to the death. 



The males do not reach their full plumage till the 

 second or third year. If caged, after the first moulting in 

 their confinement the wild colors do not return ; the 

 reddish tint is exchanged for a yellowish cast, and so 

 remains. 



