112



Mr. Allen Silver,



of the Lesser Redpoll ( Acanthis rufescens) which assumed red

heads and pink breasts. Of this I have known several instances.

Last year, a correspondent writing to me through the queries of

“Canary and Cage Bird Life,” informed me of a similar occurrence

with some young birds he had in his possession.


A friend in this district possesses a Redpoll, moulted in a

cage, showing a pink “flush” ; another was exhibited early last

year, and I have in my mind two other instances at least. Con¬

cerning the Twite ( A. flavirostris ) I have never known the pinky

rump retained after a moult, neither have I met with a properly

cage-moulted example of the Linnet (A. cannabina') showing a

red crown or a crimson-pink breast, except in one instance

that I met with last year. This bird had a large awkwardly

shaped red patch rather low down on the side of the breast. If

taken before the moult in nestling dress, before a feather has

been shed, or hand-reared, one may safely conclude they never

attain these ornaments. If caught in winter plumage, before the

colour is conspicuous, or even in the case of partly-moulted

young males of the year caught in October, their brilliant

plumage will come to the fore by the next Spring in a greater or

lesser degree, and, after the next moult, although never again a

conspicuous feature, the rusty areas on the feathers that should be

reddish are clearly discernible for some time. In cage-moulted

“caught” nestlings, hand-reared birds, and birds that have been

moulted several seasons in captivity, practically no trace of this

band of colour can be seen on turning up the breast feathers.

On the other hand, when A. cannabina is crossed with Serinus

canaria (dom. var.) the male offspring have the crown and breast

ornament (although pale in colour) distinctly visible and, when

treated with colour-food, will exhibit in the Spring this character

to a marked degree, in some specimens the areas become almost

red. A Rosy Pastor ( Sturnus roseus ) I had some years ago, directly

after the moult, had quite a nice pink tinge, and was almost free

from blemish ; this, however, did not improve as the Spring came

round, and every other example I have seen has invariably

moulted a dirty blotched creamy tint. In the cases of a Red-

backed Shrike (male) and a Lesser Whitethroat I have known

the slight suffusion of pink to occur on the breast after the



