il6 catalogue of birds. 



The Brambling. 

 Family^ Fringillidce. 



The Brambling, or Mountain Finch, is an autumn 

 and winter visitor to Scotland, " and migrants from 

 Scandinavia may be found in small parties among 

 the Highland glens long before their arrival is 

 noticed in England, where their presence and rela- 

 tive abundance depend upon the severity of the 

 weather on the Continent " (H.S.). It is generally 

 to be found in the vicinity of beech woods. It leaves 

 us about the middle of March for its more northern 

 breeding-grounds, but occasional nests in this country 

 have been recorded. " ' Mr. E. T. Booth states, that 

 in June 1866, whilst fishing in the river Lyon in 

 Perthshire, he had occasion to climb a beech tree to 

 disentanole his line when he disturbed a female 

 Brambling from her nest with three eggs. . . . As 

 a rule, the Brambling breeds at higher altitudes than 

 the Chaffinch, and its nest, largely composed of 

 birch-bark, is usually placed where a branch meets the 

 stem of a birch or fir tree. . . The eggs — six to seven 

 in number, laid late in May or early in June, are, as 

 a rule, rather greener than those of the Chaffinch, 

 and have more definite markings. ... Its food 

 consists of insects small seeds — especially those of 

 the knot-grass — beechmast, and the kernels of 

 nuts. ' " (Howard Saunders.) 



The specimen in the case was obtained in the 

 vicinity of some beech woods between Caterham and 

 Godstone, when out for a stroll with my friend, 

 Mr. Charles Thorpe, the Naturalist, East Croydon. 



