THE PERCHING BIRDS. 



173 



tive type, easily distinguished by the white tail-feathers, 



the yellow in the wings, and the reddish breast ; and the 



somewhat harsh call-note of the male is occa- 

 Chaffinch, . ,, • i i • i ,i , 



sionally varied by a more musical outburst. 



The food of the 

 chaffinch consists 

 largely of grubs 

 and winged insects, 

 though it certainly 

 does some damage 

 among imj)erfect- 

 ly protected newly 

 sown seed. The 

 nest, one of the 

 most compact and 

 beautiful of those 

 found in this coun- 

 try, is of moss 

 lined with hair and down, and is usually placed in orchard- 

 trees at a height of 4 or 5 feet. Eggs^ 5, | inch ; greenish, 

 with purple spots and smears. An unspotted variety of 

 the Qgg is also known, but I never found one. A second 

 brood is reared in June. 



tBrambling. 



Now a regular winter visitor to parts of Scotland, and 

 an occasional wanderer to almost every county in England 

 and Ireland, the Brambling was once found 

 breeding in Perthshire. It is also known 

 as the Mountain Finch. The breast is of reddish hue, 

 and there is some yellow about the Mdngs. 



The Linnet, or " Untie," is a common resident in these 

 islands, except in the north of Scotland, where it is rare, 

 and the Shetlands, where it seems to be un- 

 known. As the sparrow is a bird of cultiva- 

 tion, so is this a bird of waste ground. Not a very 

 handsome species, the male has just sufficient red in his 



