FINXHES 



In the interior of the larger woods, bird Hfe is 

 never so plentifid as upon the outskirts. The Finches 

 especially, although many of them cling to the belts 

 and coppices, and are rarely to be found in barren 

 and exposed tracts of country, none the less shun 

 the deeper recesses where the closely-growing boles 

 and interlacing branches restrict their flight. 



The Hawfinch is, perhaps, one of the most truly 

 wood-loving of any of the group. Although he may 

 be seen on isolated bushes in lawns and gardens, 

 and in autumn may be found making destructive 

 raids upon the fruit, he never strays far from the 

 shelter of shrubbery and thicket, and on the 

 slightest suspicion of danger, at once hides himself 

 behind a screen of the densest foliage. 



Few birds, indeed, are so difficult to approach as 

 the Hawfinch. Kven when one's attention is called 

 to his presence by the sharp " twit-twit " proceeding 

 from the bare branch of one of the tallest trees he 

 appears to become at once aware that a possibly 

 hostile eye is upon him, and he instantly departs, 

 with swift, undulating flight, in search of some 

 deeper seclusion. 



Sometimes, however, when engaged amidst the 

 pea-sticks or in the cherry trees, he forgets some- 

 thing of his habitual caution. See him now as he 

 stands grasping the bough with his powerful claws, 



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