PINE-GROSBEAK 191 



sbyness precludes the ordinary observer from seeing 

 much of it. In winter and spring, before the leaves 

 appear, it is more conspicuous, especially when the buds 

 on our fruit trees begin to make their appearance in the 

 gardens. 



The nest of the Bullfinch is one of the lightest 

 (next to the Turtle-Dove) constructions of our birds. 

 When placed on a high branch of a whitethorn it is so 

 slightly made of fine twigs, that it is transparent, and the 

 eggs may be seen in it. In some instances it is so loosely 

 put together that it falls to pieces on removal. 



Mr. E. T. Filmer says it breeds freely in the thorn 

 hedges along the railway in the Orlestone district. The 

 nests have been found in various positions, high up in 

 thorn bushes and low down within 18 inches of the 

 ground, sometimes in small open bushes, and at others in 

 dense brambles. 



Genus PINICOLA, Yieillot. 

 PINE-GEOSBEAK. 



Pinicola enucleator (Linnaeus). 8.N., i., p. 299 



(1766). 



The earliest and only record of the Pine-Grosbeak in 

 Kent is that given by the Eev. J. Pemberton Bartlett in 

 the Zoologist, 1844, p. 621, as follows: "The Pine- 

 Grosbeak has been occasionally killed in Kent." 



In the Zoologist, 1877, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., calls 

 attention to the claim of the Pine-Grosbeak to be 

 regarded as a British bird. After giving all the particu- 

 lars respecting the Pine-Grosbeaks obtained in England 

 up to 1877, he refers to those of Kent: "In Mr. Pern- 



