9 ° 
The Damn-Bird. 
BY ELIZABETH AND JOSEPH CRINNELL 
NEIGHBOR of ours has a young 
son interested in birds. He be¬ 
lieves, with a child's faith, what is 
told him. One day his father 
asked, “What bird is that, Ken¬ 
yon?” pointing to a little grey 
fellow with red head and throat. 
“That’s a Damn-bird, father,” 
was the reply. 
Being a strict church-member, 
the father was shocked, and re¬ 
peated the question, with a serious 
mental attitude facially expressed toward the supposed pro¬ 
fanity. “ But it is the Damn-bird, father ! The gardener told 
me so!” the child persisted, innocently giving to the little 
creature a title which, if he has not earned it, is universally 
accepted. 
By general consent and common anathema the linnet is the 
Damn-bird of California. He is stoned, shot, poisoned, cursed, 
hated—and still by a kind heaven and his own gentle wits the 
bird remains to do his questionable mission. It is not the 
object of this paper to discuss the demerits of the culprit. 
The newspapers have done this to more than perfection. Like 
other people of any race he has his faults. But his virtues are 
C. M. Davis Eng. Co. 
A HANDFUL OF YOUNG LINNETS. 
