A Note on the Plumage of the Linnet
A Note on the Plumage of the Linnet
While looking up fruit prospects near Madera, California, April 9, 1913, I noticed a male Linnet (Cargodacus mexicanus frontalis) in a large cage hanging under the porch of a farm dwelling. The brilliant yellow color of the head, throat and rump at once attracted my attention, it being only the second yellow linnet that I had seen in thirteen years' observation in the San Joaquin Valley.
Inquiry of the owner elicited the information that he had taken the bird from a nest in his orchard sixteen years ago, feeding it by hand for the first week or two. It was also stated positively that in the first adult plumage assumed by this linnet the colored areas were uniformly yellow, and at no time since had there been a trace of red feathering. Each spring the yellow coloring becomes very pronounced, but appears to gradually fade out as summer advances. This bird has recently become blind but appears to be in perfect health.
