THE LIE NET. 
Habitat op the Linnet. — This little species of the finches 
arrives here in considerable flocks. “ The young birds appear 
earliest, then the females, and lastly the mature males, which 
may be said to be the order of movement with all autumnal 
birds, how limited soever the distance to which they migrate.” 
It is somewhat difficult to distinguish the male from his mate 
in a wild state, and Mudie says, “ When one comes suddenly 
upon the linnet, attracted by his song, which, in the wilds, is 
particularly cheerful, it instantly drops into the bush, before 
its plumage can be very carefully noticed ; and if one beats 
the bush out hops a brown bird, the female, and gets credit for 
the song of her mate. The deception, or the mistake, is further 
increased by the male ceasing his song and raising his alarm- 
call as soon as he is seen and until he disappears in the bush, 
for he does not generally fly out, but the female does, and, as 
is the habit of the female in many birds, she offers herself to 
the enemy, that is, tempts him, by short flights, to wile him 
away from the nest, and when the coast is clear she again 
flies into the bush, chirping softly the note of safety, and soon 
after the male resumes his song. Thus, though it is the male 
that is heard, it is the female that is most frequently seen.” 
If easily attainable, the linnet prefers wild open country, 
although they may be found in gardens and hedgerows. It 
builds its nest of dry leaves, wool, and hair, usually lining it 
with feathers. The linnet lays from four to six eggs, of a dingy 
bluish-white colour, with flesh-coloured specks. It has usually 
two broods in the season, the first in May, and the second in 
July or August. 
The Linnet’s Various Colours. — Writers of bird books are 
just now making a great fuss concerning what they seem to 
think a modern discovery. We are told not to be deceived by 
the cheating propensities of bird-dealers, who delight to palm 
off one sort of linnet for another. We are informed that the 
“ yellow,” the “ brown,” and the “ grey ” linnet is the selfsame 
bird, and that what we have hitherto known as the “ greater 
redpole ” is nothing else than a linnet in its third year. I don’t 
know for whom the information is intended, but during my 
experience I never yet met a linnet-keeper who was not well 
aware of these remarkable facts, and who would no more think 
of confounding the birds than they would of attempting to 
catch them by the application of salt to their tails. 
The simple fact is this. During its first year the linnet has 
no scarlet feathers in its head ; it is then, as it is called, a grey 
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