EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 241 



that which can be adduced in support of the claim of the Canary 

 to be so considered. On the Continent the range of the Serin is 

 remarkably restricted, being confined to Europe, west of Russia, 

 and to North Africa. 



The nest of the Serin, though very loosely made of short, slender 

 stalks and roots, held together with thistle-down, spider's web, 

 and bits of wool or cotton, is very carefully and neatly constructed. 

 There is no special lining except that the proportion of soft 

 material is greater inside than outside. The outside diameter 

 is only about 2| inches, and that of the inside only If inch ; 

 the depth is little more than an inch. 



Five is the usual number of eggs, but sometimes there are only 

 four. They are on an average smaller than those of the Goldfinch 

 or Siskin, but are indistinguishable from them, being subject to 

 the same variations of colour. The length ranges from 0"(35 to 

 06 inch, and the breadth from 0"5 to 0"45 inch. 



THE GOLDFINCH. 

 (Fringilla carduelis.) * 



Plate ofi, Fig. 17. 



The Goldfinch is locally distributed throughout Great Britain. 

 It breeds everywhere in Europe, in Norway as far north as hit. 

 65°, but in the Ural Mountains only as far north as lat. 60°. 



The nest is a charming piece of bird-architecture. It is much 

 smaller than that of the Chaffinch, but is to a certain extent made 

 on the same model. It usually measures from 1 J to '2 inches in 

 inside diameter, and is about 1 inch deep. It is often made of 

 moss, lichens, vegetable down, and a few long hairs. 



The eggs of the Goldfinch are four or five in number, and are 

 laid by the middle of May. They are greenish-white in ground- 

 colour, spotted and streaked with purplish-brown, and with 

 underlying markings of violet-grey. The spots vary considerably 

 in intensity of colour, and on some eggs are almost black. Some 

 specimens are only scratched and indistinctly marked with 

 reddish-brown ; others are almost spotless. The larger end of 

 the egg is usually the most spotted, where the markings form an 



* Caniuclis clegans — Saunders, Manual, p. 165. Carduelis earduelis—Sha.vpe, 



Handb., I., p. 39. 



