" Furze bushes form the moat favourite sites of all for the nest of the Linnet." 



THE LINNET 



T 



HE ever-cheerful little Linnet 

 is the poor man's favourite 

 cage pet. If caught in the 

 autumn it readily adapts 

 itself to confinement, but 

 if in the spring the wee 

 prisoner generally mopes 

 and dies. 



A fine male, arrayed in all the glory of 

 his wedding garments, has the top of 

 the head and breast coloured in rich 

 glossy blood-red. This is very variable, 

 however, in tint, and may be anything 

 from brownish red to lemon yellow. 

 The red is never seen on birds kept in 

 captivity. 



The Linnet is common all over the 

 country where furze bushes abound. It 

 is gregarious, excepting in the breeding 



season, when the flocks break up. I 

 have, however, seen small companies 

 of adult birds roaming over the country- 

 side in the middle of May, when nests 

 containing eggs or small young ones are 

 common. 



It is more numerous in the summer 

 than the winter, being partly a migrat- 

 ory, and partly a resident species. From 

 January to March flocks of Linnets 

 that have been wandering over stubble 

 fields and uncultivated pasture-lands in 

 search of small seeds will, during the 

 late afternoon of a fine day, alight in 

 some tall tree and engage in a delightful 

 chant. This chorus singing seems to 

 be inspired by the soft sunshine. After 

 March the proper individual song com- 

 mences and is kept up until July. I 



