Class II. RED HEADED FINCH. 465 



ash color, spotted with black ; the back and 

 scapulars are of a dull brownish red • and the 

 breast and sides of a duty yellow, streaked r-^i^^ 

 with dusky lines. It is a common fraud in the 

 bird shops in LondoJi, when a male bird is 

 distinguished from the female by a red breast, 

 as in the case of this bird, to stain or paint the 

 feathers, so that the deceit is not easily disco- 

 vered, without at lest close inspection.* 



These birds are frequent on our sea-coasts ; 

 and are often taken in flight time near London. 

 It is a familiar bird, and is chearful in five ^ ' 

 minutes after it is caught. •;:. 



It leaves Italy in flocks in September and 

 October. 



* Doctor Latham, in the second supplement to his Synopsis, 

 suggests the possibility that this and the common linnet consti- 

 tute only one species, the latter not completing the red on the i 

 forehead till the end of the second year at soonest, though it is 

 capable of breeding in the first spring after it is hatched. Ed, 



^:ri\:\ -., /f 



VOL. I. 2 H 



