NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



THE LINNET. 



MALE Linnets vary 

 almost as much in 

 the colour of their 

 feathers as they do 

 in the quality of 

 their songs. A fine 

 specimen, arrayed 

 in all the glory of 

 his summer dress, 

 has the forehead and 

 crown glossy blood- 

 red, the rest of the 

 head black, and sides 

 of the neck brownish-grey, back and 

 upper wing coverts deep reddish-brown ; 

 wing quills dusky, edged with white ; 

 upper tail coverts dark brown ; tail 

 quills brownish-black, edged with white, 

 except in the case of the two centre 

 feathers ; chin and throat greyish-white, 

 streaked along ^the middle with greyish- 

 brown ; breast glossy rose-red. The 

 last-named colour varies greatly in in- 

 tensity, and in some birds is almost 

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