BRITISH SONG BIEDS. 289 



the ild be furnished ; the perches should be placed at various heights, 

 and in the most convenient places. The door may be put according 

 to fancy ; in some cages it is at the side, as in the above representa- 

 tion. A small shelf should be fastened to the boarded back, and 

 from the edge of the shelf a partition should be carried up to the top 

 of the cage ; this little shelf, with its partition, serves as a private 

 chamber in which the birds may construct their nests, and two small 

 boxes, or rather trays, are put inside for them to build in ; two holes 

 are made in the partition to allow of free egress and regress, and the 

 materials of which nests are usually composed, such as hay, elk's 

 hair, down, feathers, and the ra veilings of silk or cotton, should be 

 put into a little net pouch, or bag, and hung from the roof of the 

 cage near the perches. Some bird-fanciers recommend the washing 

 of the breeding-cages with lime once or twice during the summer 

 season, to keep the birds free from insects, but scrupulous attention 

 to the cleanliness of the cage will always preserve its inmates from 

 such annoyances. 



LINNETS. 



There arc three varieties of linnets, 

 the common linnet, familiar to every 

 boy, the goldfinch, or thistlefinch, as 

 it is also called on account of its feed- 

 ing on thistle down, and the green- 

 finch or green linnet. But the common 

 linnet is the singing bird, and many 

 bird-fanciers say that the mixed breed 

 of the canary and common linnet pro- 

 duces a sweeter singer than either of 

 the birds unmixed. Linnets are easily 

 tamed, show great fondness towards those who feed them, and 

 seem to care less about being kept captive in cages than other birds. 

 They also live a many years. The song of the common linnet is very 

 sweet, very lively, and has many variations, and stands second to 

 none of our small British song birds, if we except the blackcap, 

 which is the sweetest singer of them all. As the common linnet is 

 the most plentiful, readily procured, and sold cheap, it is the best 

 song-bird the young fancier can start with, as it is not at all a diffi- 

 cult bird to rear. The male may be easily distinguished from the 

 female by being browner on the back, having the first, second, third, 

 and fourth feathers of the wings white up to the quill, and in the 

 spring, by being crimson on the breast ; the female, usually greyish 

 on the back, streaked with dusky brown, and yellowish white, on 

 the rump with greyish brown and reddish white, and on the breast 

 these spots are tolerably plentiful ; the wing coverts are dusky chest- 

 nut. When younglings in the nest, tho males have a white collar, 

 and some white tints about the tail and wings ; and the females are 

 generally more of a grey than a brown colour, and Very much streaked 

 on the breast. These birds are most usually taken in clap nets, 

 and when secured, they should be put in store cages, and fed upon 

 such seeds as you find they generally feed on, with the addition of 



