OUR BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 73 
single note, ‘‘ Chirr-rr, chirr-rr.”” Then there is the merry 
little Redpole—the ‘‘ Pea Joey”’ of the bird-catchers, though, 
why they gave him so queer a name, it is difficult to say. 
Like his friends the Titmice and Siskins, in whose company 
he haunts the alder bushes in the winter time, and performs 
all kinds of acrobatic feats amongst the branches, he is 
always ‘jolly’ as Mark Tapley would say, and this over- 
flowing merriment of his makes him happy even when 
adverse fortune confines his wanderings to the inside of a 
narrow cage. With the exception of the Bullfinch, I know 
of no bird who makes so entertaining a pet, and whether 
kept in a cage or “braced”? upon a perch, he quickly 
learns many pleasing tricks, and his continual liveliness will 
cheer many a lonely hour. His song, however, is merely 
a pleasant chatter, but is delivered in such a self-satisfied 
way, with body nearly erect, that one cannot help being 
amused at his little attempts at melody. 
I have noticed that often in captivity, on the approach 
of Summer, the dark forehead of the Redpole changes to 
crimson, and his creamy-white breast becomes suffused with 
delicate rosy tints, just as they would have done were the 
bird free and in the field, but that his relative, the Linnet, 
retains his sombre brown coat throughout the year, refusing 
to wear in prison, the rich, red, and glowing carmine which 
he dons for the courting season when wild amongst his 
native gorse. Why this is, I cannot say, but it is a 
remarkable fact that although the Linnet will sing well and 
live long in a cage, his breast and head never gain those 
gorgeous colours which render the male bird so beautiful a 
creature when seen in the hedgerow or on the heath. 
Let me now say a word or two in favour of the Bull- 
finch. He has many virtues and very few failings. It is 
true he is apt to levy toll upon our budding fruit-trees 
when he ventures from the woods into the orchard. But 
consider how pretty he is. See how a flock of Bullfinches 
