ON THE NESTING OF THE HAWFINCH IN FIFESHIRE 13 



Rosslyn ; but now they are quite numerous, and may be 

 found in summer in the immediate vicinity of the town, 

 where they breed." 



In the fourth edition of " Yarrell," Professor Newton 

 states that, in all the countries it inhabits, the Hawfinch is 

 most generally a resident that is to say, as regards the 

 adults, since the young unquestionably leave their birth-place 

 towards autumn. Their food consists in great part of the 

 kernels of the seeds of trees, the fleshy pulp of cherries and 

 other fruits and berries being always rejected, and the 

 enclosed stone or seed cracked between their powerful 

 mandibles. The authorities concur, however, in noting the 

 fondness of the bird for green peas. 



In the beginning of August last, a nest was discovered 



o o o 



in my neighbourhood the neighbourhood of Newport, in 

 the east of Fifeshire which contained one unhatched egg, 

 the rest of the clutch having doubtless been hatched some 

 two months earlier in the year. The nest and eggs were 

 shown to me, and were quite new to me ; but the finder 

 informed me that a similar nest occupied the same situation 

 last year, though, being empty when found, no particular 

 examination had been made of it. 



In the present instance, 1 found the nest to be placed 

 on and among a bunch of twigs and suckers growing from 

 the bole of a large elm tree, which stands in a shrubbery, 

 surrounded by undergrowth, about one hundred yards from 

 a dwelling-house. It was not more than five feet from the 

 ground, and, though a good deal knocked about by the 

 winds and rains of a very inclement season, still retained its 

 shape sufficiently for identification. The egg, too, had 

 unfortunately been somewhat broken before I saw it, but 

 more than one-half remained intact. It was undoubtedly a 

 typical Hawfinch's egg in appearance ; but, not liking to 

 take upon myself to add the new breeder to the list of 

 Scottish birds, I took the egg to the Edinburgh Museum, 

 where Mr. Eagle Clarke pronounced it to be unquestionably 

 the egg of a Hawfinch. 



Readers of the " Annals" will remember that the capture 

 of a very young bird in the gardens of Arniston House, 

 Midlothian, early in August 1894, was the text for a paper 



