70 Order I 



Subfamily Fringillinae, or Finches 



The Greenfinch or Green "Linnet" (C Moris Moris), 

 one of our most famihar residents, breeds throughout 

 Britain and Europe generally, south of the Shetlands and 

 the more Arctic districts ; it has also been reported from 

 western Asia and north-west Africa, but southward 

 and eastward closely allied forms forbid exact limits 

 to be defined. The olive-green colour, relieved by a 

 little bright yellow and blackish brown, is best seen 

 as the family parties flit before us along the hedgerows 

 in summer, while in the breeding season the monoto- 

 nous droning call-note is most usually heard as the 

 bird sits unseen in the dense foliage. The flight is 

 strong, and large numbers arrive from abroad towards 

 winter ; the song is feeble, and the flocks on the 

 stubbles are pretty quiet. The nest, placed in a tree- 

 top at some height from the ground, in a shrub or a 

 hedge, is composed of roots, moss and wool, and lined 

 with wool, hair and feathers ; the four to six eggs are 

 greenish or reddish white with red-brown spots, as in 

 a true Linnet. 



The Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) is a most 

 interesting species of peculiarly heavy build, with a 

 comparatively short tail and immense beak ; it used to 

 be a rare resident in England, and is still extraordinarily 

 erratic, but has certainly spread northwards of late 

 years to Dumfriesshire and Fifeshire, besides becoming 

 locally common in the south. It breeds throughout 

 the Palsearctic region, except the more northern parts, 

 if we do not separate the eastern Asiatic and other 

 supposed western forms. Its food consists of seeds 

 and fruits, such as haws, beech-mast, kernels of cherry- 

 stones, and peas, with caterpillars for the young, 



