LINNET, a very common and attractive song-bird, one of the smaller migratory finches, of southern Europe and adjacent countries of Africa and Asia. In autumn and winter the plumage is brown-streaked and dull, but in the spring molt; on the approach of the breed ing season, the breast and head of the mature male become bright crimson. This gay dress is assumed and put off gradually, and bird-catch ers speak of brown, gray, red or rose linnets as if they were separate species, but there is only one— Linota cannabina. The name refers to the fondness of the bird for hemp, flax-seed and the like, formerly called the "lint" crops, whence come the Scotch names "lint white," etc., and the English "linnet." The hab its of these birds in the fields are much the same as those of their relatives the American goldfinches, or of the redpolls, called "linnets* in Canada. Thesegre among the most prized • of cage-birds for the sake of their song, and are taken in great numbers in traps as well as extensively bred. They will interbreed with the
canary and an interesting and valuable hybrid has thus been produced. The song is loud, flute-like and exceedingly agreeable; it consists of several connected strains, and is esteemed by connoisseurs in proportion to the frequency with which certain clear sonorous notes, or "crows," recur. It sings throughout the year, except when molting, and may be taught various airs and melodies not its own even to imitate well the complicated of the nightingale. Such education is rarely given it, however, ex cept in Germany. The care and feeding of a linnet should be the same as those given a canary. See CANARY; CAGE-BIRDS.
in glass-making, a table connecting the glass-melting furnace with the arch.