110 BRITISH BIRDS. 
general colour of the upper parts much duller, with the streaks on the 
upper and underparts more pronounced. Young males in first plumage 
resemble the adult female. After the autumn moult, the male has pale 
margins to all the feathers, which almost conceal the crimson of the head 
and breast; but these margins drop off as the season advances, and the 
red on the head and breast and the chestnut on the back seem to intensify. 
In captivity the males gradually lose the crimson on the crown and breast, 
which changes without a moult into ochre-yellow ; and after the first moult 
they assume the plumage of the female, which they retain ever afterwards. 
Birds in which the crimson is replaced by ochre-yellow are occasionally 
caught wild, and are probably males deficient in vigour. 
In addition to the Eastern form of this species already alluded to, the 
Common Linnet has several near allies; but the only British species with 
which it is at all likely to be confused are the Twite and Redpole. Both 
may always be distinguished by their yellowish bills and the absence of 
the broad white margins to the inner webs of the tail-feathers ; and the 
Redpole, which is less closely allied to the Common Linnet than is the 
Twite, possesses the additional characters of a dark brown chin-spot and a 
double wing-bar. 
