88 The Lin'nkt 



whistling througli soap-suds, a clear note escaping at the end of the phrase 

 through bubble and sputter — "c/ii'ck, chick, achock ; chick, chicka-chick ; chick, chick, 

 achoo'' ; moreover, half a dozen Linnets quarrelling sound nearly as well as one 

 Linnet singing. For clearness and vigour not a note in the song of Acanthis 

 ia)i)ial)i)i(t will compare with the joyous, though somewhat monotonous, song of 

 the Chaffinch : of course I am aware that this is rank heresy ; but heresy is often 

 truth. Howard vSaunders observes that "it is the capacity for learning the notes 

 of other birds which makes the Linnet so great a favourite for the cage" : perhaps 

 he is right; but, although I was never without the species until after 1900, since I first 

 began to keep birds, often having as many as six or eight cock Linnets at the 

 same time, I never observed any capacit}' for niimicr}- in an}' of my specimens : 

 even the three males last in ni}' possession, which had been il_ving together in 

 the same aviary for six or seven 3-ears, sang nothing be3-ond their natural 

 wild song. That nestling Linnets will learn a song of another bird if kept 

 separate from examples of their own species, as recorded by Sterland (Vide Charles 

 Witchell's "Evolution of Bird Song," p. 170)* is nt)t remarkable; but it does not 

 account for the caging of many thousands of adult Linnets yearly. 



Linnets are known to be largely migratory, and Seebohm observes : — " Although 

 the Linnet is a resident in this countrj- it is probable that many, if not most of 

 the birds of the year join the flocks of this species that pass our islands every 

 autumn, and migrate further south with them." 



The food of the Linuet consists principally of seeds of dock, plantain, dandelion, 

 groundsel, thistle, etc., and it is fond of hemp, oats, and turnip seed. Probably 

 when feeding its young it also eats aphides and small caterpillars. In confine- 

 ment German rape, canary, and oats are the best seeds on which to feed it. 

 Why the last-mentioned very wholesome and cheap seed is so seldom used by 

 aviculturists I cannot understand, unless they imagine that the smaller hard-billed 

 birds are unable to crack it : this, of course, is a very mistaken notion, for most 

 seed-eating birds, including Canaries, are very fond of oats. 



When hand-reared, Linnets become extremely tame ; but, if the}- are to be 

 kept so, they must be caged separately ; for association in an aviary with other 

 birds, renders them as wild as caught specimens in a few days ; a fact which I 

 proved first in 1886, and have since been able to confirm. It is also a mistake to 

 trust the rearing of caged nestlings to the parent birds; I tried this in 1887, 

 hanging up the cage in a tree near the nest from which I had removed the 

 young. The uld birds are willing enough to feed their young in a cage, but the 



♦ 111 inv opinion the Linnt-t nieiuionttl in the same work (p. lyi) as warbling the songs of the Blackcap 

 and Wren, nin.st also have been a nestling when caged. 



