The Brown Linnet. 



135 



entices them to a secluded spot near by where there is a good 

 supply of food. He soon teaches them how to cater for them- 

 selves, and when he is satisfied that they can fully accomplish 

 this, he drives them away, and will not permit them to remain 

 in the neighbourhood of the hen, who by this time has 

 begun her preparations for another brood. 



Brown Linnets are naturally timid birds, and easily alarmed ; 

 but they never fly far away, and, if disturbed in a fallow 

 field, will rise en masse, and alight again on the opposite side, 

 or in the field adjoining. 



When they are first caged they are very wild, and dash 

 about in a manner calculated to injure themselves, and it re- 

 quires some time to get them tranquillised and made familiar 

 with the change ; but after they have been moulted in the 

 house, they in a great measure lose their timidity, and appear 

 to get reconciled to habits of domestication, in some cases 

 becoming exceedingly tame and tractable, especially when 

 kept constantly in the society of a number of grown-up 

 people and children. They are best kept in small cages, 

 like the one illustrated and described on pp. 38 and 39. 

 The object in having a bird of this species in a small cage is, 

 that it sings much better than in a large one, and likewise 

 becomes tame much sooner. Brown Linnets are fond of 

 sunshine and fresh air, and, if kept as song birds, should 

 be caged separately, and hung outside in the open, in fine 

 weather during the spring, summer, and autumn ; but if 

 kept for breeding purposes, they should be placed during 

 the winter among Canaries, in a medium sized cage. House- 

 moulted birds, and young birds which have never been mated 

 with one of their own species in a wild state, are prefer- 

 able for breeding purposes, as they do not sulk, and become 

 melancholy and unattractive to a Canary hen, as adult wild 

 birds frequently do. 



Methods of Oaptuee. — The Brown Linnet is a difiicult 

 bird to ensnare, on account of its timidity. It may, however, 

 be caught, in the spring, with the trap cage and a good decoy 

 bird ; and in the autumn, with a decoy bird and limed twigs 

 and nooses. The decoy bird should be placed in a bush, 

 or among furzes, where it can see and hear its confreres, 

 but so situated as not to be readily observable by the 

 wild birds, who, when they hear the call, will at once 



