THE LINNET. 45 



feathers, a yellow linnet ; and in the spring of 

 the third year, when the forehead is blood red, the 

 feathers on the side of the breast the same color, 

 and a ferruginous tinge prevails over the whole body, 

 the bird comes out in all his glory as a rose linnet. 

 By and by, when age steals on, or sickness or con- 

 finement tell upon the constitution of the sweet 

 songster, he falls from his high estate ; his plumage 

 changes, and he is a brown, gray, or yellow linnet, 

 as the case may be. There is scarcely any bird, per- 

 haps, that puts on so many different dresses in the 

 course of his life as our little linnet ; there is 

 scarcely any telling what changes each moult will 

 produce : that is, in a state of confinement ; for in 

 a natural state the bird will go through its regular 

 gradations of plumage in a natural manner, and one 

 may safely judge of his age by his dress ; but in an 

 artificial state it is not so. 



He is fond of bathing, and we might say of two 

 kinds : first, like the skylark, in plenty of gravel (of 

 which there must be an abundance in the cage) ; 

 and, second, in water, and a bathing-dish must be 

 given daily. His diseases are similar to all seed- 

 eating birds in confinement; and the treatment 

 must be the same, for which see article on Sick 

 Birds. 



LINNET MULES. The male linnet will some- 

 times mate with the canary ; but the mules are not 

 nearly so beautiful as the offspring of the goldfinch 

 and canary, though they are generally good song- 

 sters, and highly prized on that account. 



