. British birds for cages and aviaries; a hanbook relating to all British birds which may be kept in confinement .. . ize. Thereare supposed to be several other varieties of the latter birdbesides the one usually seen, but they are of extremelyrare occurrence. One peculiarity common to both the Pine Grosbeakand the Crossbill is that the males lose the beautiful redcolour of the breast after moulting in confinement andremain of a dull yellowish brown appearance that is far fromattractive. Why they should do so is as impossible of expla-nation in their case as it is in that of the Linnet andRedp
. British birds for cages and aviaries; a hanbook relating to all British birds which may be kept in confinement .. . ize. Thereare supposed to be several other varieties of the latter birdbesides the one usually seen, but they are of extremelyrare occurrence. One peculiarity common to both the Pine Grosbeakand the Crossbill is that the males lose the beautiful redcolour of the breast after moulting in confinement andremain of a dull yellowish brown appearance that is far fromattractive. Why they should do so is as impossible of expla-nation in their case as it is in that of the Linnet andRedpoll. It has been stated that the ruddy tint is a nuptialadornment, and that it is lost in confinement because thereproductive instinct is then in abeyance. A momentsreflection, however, should have told the propounder of the 76 BRITISH BIRDS above theory,—a noted collector of dried skins and emptyegg-shells, but possessing only a very limited knowledgeof live birds and their ways,—that his plausible theorywas untenable, for the Linnet breeds quite freely in thehouse, with a mate of his own or of some kindred. The Pine Grosbeak. species, but does not, for all that, resume his rosy vest inconfinement. No, the breeding instinct has nothing to do with thephenomenon, though change of food, want of fresh airand exercise and of light may have: but even in a largegarden aviary where the bird would be supposed to have FOR CAGES AND A VI ARIES. jj everything of the kind indicated that he required, he willlose his red when moulting and remain brown to the endof his days. The Redpoll, however, when placed out of doors will,to a certain extent, regain his full colours, that is, his pollwill turn red, but his breast only resumes the merestshade of the becoming colour with which Nature had atfirst so liberally endowed him. Evidently the cause ofthe loss of colour in confinement, common to all thesebirds, and to some foreign species,—the Purple Finch ofAmerica for example,—is more reco
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectcag
