The Linnet. 25S 



so call its chirping, is far from agreeable : this arises, 

 however, not from want of powers, but from its attend- 

 ing solely to the note of the parent bird. A Sparrow, 

 when fledged, was taken from the nest and educated 

 under a linnet : it also heard by accident a goldfinch ; 

 and its song was in consequence a mixture of the two. 

 The male is particularly distinguished by a jet-black 

 spot under the bill upon a whitish ground. Sparrows 

 are found nearly in every country of the world. 



THE LINNET, (Fringilla linota or Linota cannabina,) 



Is about the size of the goldfinch ; and compensates, by 

 an extremely melodious voice, the want of variety in its 

 plumage, which, except in the red-breasted species, is 

 nearly all of one colour. Its musical talents are, like 

 those of many other birds, repaid with captivity ; for it 

 is kept in cages on account of its singing. 



The Kedpole (Fringilla linaria) is a small species of 

 Linnet, little more than four inches in length, distin- 

 guished by a deep blood-red spot on the crown of his 

 head. He visits Britain in the autumn and stays with 

 us during the winter, his favourite summer residence 

 being far away in the north. Kedpoles are taken in great 

 numbers by the bird-catchers in the autumn. Their only 

 song is a twittering note, but they are often attached by 

 a brace and chain to an open cage and trained to draw 

 their water in a bucket. 



The Green Linnet is rather larger than the house spar- 

 row. Its head and back are of a yellowish-green, the 



