570 
ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 
strewn with red gravel or silver sand. He will thrive well on canary 
seed, with unhulled rice and cracked corn and occasionally a little 
hemp seed. His drink should be of soft water; hard or lime water 
having a tendency to make him costive, which, if not cured, will soon 
carry him off. He should not be kept too warm, as he is very hardy, 
enduring the inclemencies of severe Winters with great indifference. 
The Linnet. 
The linnet is one of the nicest of the finch family. He rs more 
grateful for kindness, more solicitous of pleasing, than almost any 
other cage bird. Daring the first year of his life the linnet is called the 
gray linnet, from the color of his plumage. After the second molt, 
the red of the breast blending with the amber edges of the feathers 
produces a golden hue, and the bird is then known as the yellow linnet. 
At the end of the third molt the breast becomes bright carmine and 
the flanks the color of iron rust, and it is known as the rose linnet. 
Graj’, yellow, or red, his music will be the same; even sickness 
does not end his exquisite piping, and the older he grows the better he 
sings. He sings both Winter and Summer, except during the time of 
molting. The song of the linnet consists of a number of sentences 
or “jerks," as they are called, and each distinct from the other, while 
the wonderful variety of notes is astounding. 
A male linnet will mate with a female canary, and the offspring 
will resemble in color a gray canary; but the song of the “mules" will 
be very fine, and they are highly prized on that account. Linnets 
should be kept in a square cage, as in it they are less subject to giddi- 
ness than in round cages. They require the same food and manage 
ment as canaries. 
The Blue Bird. 
Everyone knows the plumage and song of the blue bird, so that a 
detailed description is hardly necessary. In Europe the blue bird is 
kept as a cage bird, and he is much admired for both his song and 
plumage, where is he usualbp called the blue robin. 
The Nightingale. 
The nightingale is usually conceded to be the king of songsters. 
At night, when other birds are silent, this sweet musician reigns su- 
preme. His plumage is very modest, and he is about the size of a blue 
bird. He should be given a large cage, which should be hung in a sub- 
dued light. He is an enormous eater, and requires a large quantity of 
food. The utmost cleanliness and daily supplies of gravel and water 
are absolutely necessary to secure a healthy bird. Although inclined 
to be delicate when first caught, the nightingale, after becoming accus- 
tomed to cage life, if given proper care, becomes one of the longest- 
lived of cage birds. 
The Starling. o' 
The starling is about the size of a small black bird. He is one of 
the most gifted of birds, being able to siner. whistle tunes, and can even 
