THE COMMOiV LINNET. 141 



coloured, the top rather spotted with black ; the cheek, sides of 

 the neck, and the circle round the eyes, have a reddish white 

 tint; the feathers of the back are chestnut Avith the edges 

 lighter ; the upper tail-coverts are black edged with reddish 

 white ; the throat and under part of the neck are yellowish 

 white, with some dashes of reddish grey ; the sides of the breast 

 are blood red edged with reddish white, the sides of the belly 

 are pale rust- coloured ; the rest of the under part of the body 

 is reddish white ; the greater wing coverts are black, bordered 

 with reddish white, the others are rusty brown with a lighter 

 border. The quill-feathers are black tipped with white, the 

 first are edged with white nearly to the point, the narrow 

 beard forms a parallel white streak to the quill-feathers; the 

 tail is black and forked, the four outer feathers on both sides 

 have a broad white border, that of the two middle feathers is 

 narrower, and reddish white. 



After moulting, in autumn, little red is seen on the forehead, 

 because the feathers become coloured from the bottom to the 

 top ; the breast has not yet acquired its red tint, for the white 

 border is still too wide ; but when winter comes its colours 

 appear. 



Males one year old have no red on the head, and more 

 dashes of black : the breast is pale red waved with pale and 

 dark, the under part of the feathers on the breast is only a 

 bright reddish grey brown, the edges of these feathers are of a 

 reddish Avhite ; the back rust- colour has some detached spots of 

 dark brown and reddish white. These birds are known under 

 the name of grey linnets. 



After the second moulting, if the reddish grey feathers are 

 blown aside, blood red specks may be discovered on the fore- 

 head, and the red of the breast is only hidden by the wide 

 yellowish white borders to the feathers ; these are the yellow 

 linnets, or the rock linnets, as they are called in Thuringia. 



I have myself taken linnets whose foreheads and breasts 

 have been bright reddish yellow instead of blood red, a colour, 

 in fact, that sometimes, in the house, becomes blood reu. 

 Bird-catchers give these also the name of yellow linnets. It 

 is a deterioration of the red caused by illness during moulting, 

 or by old age, and they are not wrong in regarding them as the 

 best and the finest singers. I have taken several, but on 



