FEIXGTLLID.^i:. 258 



wliile during tlie summer and autumn tliey seem to 

 prefer tlie seeds of various plants. Their nest is 

 carelessly put togetlier and shallow^ formed of small 

 twigs lined with fibres of roots, and placed in the 

 forked branch of a tree. The eggs are from four 

 to five in number. 



The type of this sub -family is — 



The Bullfinch {Pyrrhula ruhicilla), a bird equally re- 

 markable for the simple elegance of its plumage and the 

 variety of its song ; it is, moreover, but too well known 

 from the devastation which it causes among our fruit- 

 trees. During winter the food of the Bullfinches consists 

 exclusively of seeds of various kinds, either picked uj) 

 from the ground or gathered from herbs and shrubs. In 

 spring, unfortunately for the gardener, their taste alters, 

 and nothing \vill satisfy them but the blossoms of fruit- 

 trees, especially those which are cultivated. They attack, 

 indeed, the buds of the sloe and hawthorn as well, but 

 of these, being valueless, no one takes any note. Keeping- 

 together m small family parties, all uninvited, they pay 

 most unwelcome visits to gooseberries, j^lums, and cherries, 

 and, if undisturbed, contmue to haunt the same trees until 

 all hope of a crop is destroyed. Gooseberry bushes are 

 left denuded of flower-buds, which have been deliberately 

 picked off and crushed between their strong mandibles ; 

 while the leaf-buds, situated principally at the extremity 

 of the branches, are neglected. Plums and cherry trees 

 are treated in like manner, until the ground is strewed 

 with the bud-scales and rudiments of flowers. 



The Bullfinch builds its nest in some secluded copse or 

 thick hedge, employing as materials small twigs and dry 

 grass, with a lining of fibrous roots : it usually lays five 

 eggs. Less frequently it places its nest in a shrubberj^ 

 or garden hedge. 



The ordinary notes of the Bullfinch are not musical ; 

 but these birds possess a remarkable talent for imitation, 

 and, when taken young, may be taught to whistle many 

 tunes with considerable accuracy. Their musical instruc- 

 tion is generally communicated by means of a bird-organ, 

 and requires considerable time and care, as the birds must 

 be in the habit of hearing the tunes they have to learn for 

 many months, in order that they may acquire them per- 



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