4434 THE ZooLocist—May, 1875. 
statement to be correct the plumage of the adult males is 
yellowish green, and not red, which he says is the livery of the 
young males after their first moult. When M. Temminck pub- 
lished his ‘Manual,’ he was of the same opinion, but further 
observations convinced him of his error, which he corrected in his 
Supplement. Inferences drawn from the changes of birds kept 
in cages are of no value whatever. 
Many years ago I had the opportunity of examining a great 
number of crossbills. Large flocks of these birds visited this neigh- 
bourhood in June, and remained with us about a year, although their 
numbers were much diminished by the following spring. A large 
proportion of these birds were young ones in their nest-feathers ; 
when they moulted in the autumn the females assumed the ordinary 
green plumage, which they retain during the rest of their lives. 
The young males after their moult became of a reddish buff colour, 
which appeared to change in the spring to red, brighter in some 
individuals than in others. Most of the old males at the time of 
their arrival here were yellowish green, mottled with dull red in 
some individuals: after the autumnal moult these old males became 
of a brilliant red. 1 shot one, apparently a very old bird, in which 
about half the feathers were red and the others greenish yellow; 
but the red feathers were all new ones, and it was evident that this 
bird was changing from yellow to red: it is still in the possession 
of a friend. : 
I admit that there is some little mystery about the changes of 
plumage in the male crossbills; but I believe that the livery of the 
males is brilliant red after the autumnal moult, and that this colour 
is retained till the following spring, when it gradually changes to a 
greenish yellow, the red plumage being again assumed after the 
next autumnal moult. These changes are analogous to those of 
some of the ducks, the males of which assume the plumage of the 
females in the spring. 
Common Linnet (Cannabina linota, Gmelin).—*A common 
resident. This species has the breast sometimes red, sometimes 
gray, and consequently a few years ago individuals so differing 
were described as two species, and named respectively the brown 
and gray linnet. When the brown linnet is kept in confinement it 
loses the red on the breast on the first moult, and never afterwards 
regains it, but continues in the plumage of the gray linnet. The 
fact is that the males, from shedding the nest-feathers, get a red 
