Cluck, Cluck, Cha, Wisk—R, Wisk.
Ic, quake-e-weet—R Cher.
Ic, Quake-e-Pipe—Tolloc Ic—Tolloc Ic Tolloc Ic—R Cher.
Fear, Fear, weet—Ejup, Pipe, Chow.
Pipe, Pipe, Pipe, Pipe—Ejup, Ejup, Ejup.
Ejup R—Lug, Ic, Ic, quake-e-weet.
Ic, Ic, R, Chow, Ic, Ic, R—Ic, Ic, quake, tyr, fear.
Most of these my own birds do. Several strains have been known of the linnet, the best of which I believe was Wilder’s.
The method of raising is this. Get a good bird—as soon as nestlings can be had, purchase four, or even six; put them in a large cage, and feed them with boiled or scalded rape-seed, mixed with bread. This will do till about three weeks old; then throw in dry seed, rape, flax, and canary, bruised; they will pick it up, and so be weaned from the moist food. You may then cage them off in back-cages, and hang them under the old ones.
If you do not want the trouble of feeding them, buy them at a shop about a month old, when they are able to crack the seed. Some persons prefer branchers to nestlings; these are birds caught about July. When they are just able to fly among the trees, they are in some cases better than the others; and invariably so, if they take your old bird’s song, being stronger and steadier. Nestlings lose half their time in playing about the cage.