CHAFFINCH 183 



site of what occurred on the 19th (above described), two 

 Chaffinches were calhng in an ehn tree. The female was 

 shivering her wings and repeating the love-call very 

 rapidly. A few yards distant from her a male was hop- 

 ping from twig to twig, calling in the same manner. 

 Both birds swooped, and during the flight the low, 

 rattling cry was uttered exactly as it was yesterday. The 

 low rattle is not always heard. 



"On May 11 two Chaffinches swooped downwards 

 together when passing from tree to tree, and during some 

 portion of the descent they were very close together, 

 breast to breast. They were all the time uttering the 

 chirri very rapidly. One was certainly a female, and the 

 other seemed to be a male. The foliage interfered with 

 the view. 



" On May 12 a pair of Chaffinches descended together 

 from the top of an oak, swerved up again nearly to the 

 full height of the tree (40 feet), and descended as before, 

 uttering the call-note all the while. 



" I have sometimes seen Chaffinches treading in a tree. 

 The male then alights several times in succession on the 

 female, meanwhile uttering the chirri, and at the last 

 attempt, when about to quit the female, he utters the 

 low, full, rattling note above mentioned, and immediately 

 quits her and makes no further attempt for some time. 

 It appears, therefore, that this full cry accompanies the 

 act of coition, and, if so, it is important if the note is 

 sometimes heard when the two sexes are swooping 

 together. It seems to imply that coition may actually 

 occur in the air. 



" Near Eltham, in April and May, some of the male 

 Chaffinches have a loud, single alarm-cry, zee, which can 

 be heard through all the chorus of birds. This note is 



