ales 
Notes of Birds. 305 
instead of the linnet’s notes, they learned 
those of their respective instructors, to which 
they adhered almost entirely. In some in- 
stances, to be sure, the nestlings retained the 
call of their own species; which, as they were 
three weeks old when taken from the nest, it 
is supposed they had learned from their pa- 
rents; and not. unfrequently when they had 
opportunities of hearing several species, they 
borrowed from more than one, and their 
songs became mixed.* 
To be certain that nestlings will not have 
even the calls of their species, Mr. Barrington 
remarks, that they should be taken when 
only a few days old. He then proceeds to 
notice instances of a linnet and a goldfinch 
taken at this early period, that came under 
his observation; acknowledging, atthe same 
time, his own inability to rear birds of so 
tender an age. The first, he states, ‘‘be- 
longed to Mr. Matthews, an apothecary at 
* The reason given by Mr. Barrington for the steady adherence of 
birds in a wild state to their own songs, is, that they attend to the in- 
structions of the parent birds only, disregarding the notes of all others. 
That young birds receive instructions in singing from the old ones, ap- 
pears to be a notion of great antiquity. Vide Aristot. Histor. An‘- 
mal. Lib. IV, Cap. IX.---Plinii Histor, Natural. Lib. X, Cap. 
XXIX. The celebrated Count Buffon seems to have entertained a simi- 
lar opinion. See his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Tome cinquiéme, 
p- 47. Darwin also, in his Zoonomia. Vol. 1, p. 155, lends it the 
sanction of his authority. 
P p 
