Bygone birding: Liberty for the linnets thanks to surprise initiative by 'fashionably-dressed young lady'

 

Linnet - a bird that was once often kept in confinement (including by Queen Victoria)

From the Wimbledon News (August 26, 1899)

AN interesting incident was witnessed this week in Kingston-upon-Thames Market Place. 

A fashionably-dressed young lady, who was afterwards discovered to be an actress, went to one of the market stalls where a man was selling wild birds.

She bought a dozen linnets in cages.

As the birds were handed to her, she took them from their cages, and, to the surprise of the spectators, threw them up into the air, and they were soon out of sight. 

Shortly afterwards, the stall keeper's customer returned and bought all the wild birds on sale. 

Each one was promptly liberated. 

The Wryneck says: Well done to the actress and here's hoping the birds enjoyed their new-found freedom. But what lazy journalism! Surely, the reporter should have had the initiative to trace/ identify the actress and to interview her about her motivations. Apart from the news value, such an interview would surely have boosted both her profile and her career.  A quote from the trader and maybe from one or more of the spectators would also have been welcome. The story has only been half-written. Oh well, it was 1899 - it's too late now!