BRAMBLING. , 6l 



a bush in a Birmingham public park. The variable but 

 characteristic eggs, four to six in number (Plate 34), are laid 

 in April or May ; often the whole tgg is a rich reddish brown 

 with almost black irregular streaks. A second brood is reared. 

 The head of the male is slate-blue on the crown and nape, 

 pinkish chestnut on the cheeks and round the eye ; the back is 

 warm chestnut and the rump greenish. The pink deepens on 

 the breast and becomes lighter on the belly, shading to white. 

 The brown wings are crossed with yellowish white, and there is 

 a conspicuous white patch on the shoulder. In summer the bill 

 is lead-blue, but pinkish horn in winter ; the legs and irides are 

 brown. The female is almost without the pink on the breast 

 and is yellowish brown above, greenish on the rump, and paler 

 beneath. In winter the colours are obscured by brown or grey 

 tips. The young are not unlike the female, but lack the greenish 

 tints, and are paler. Length, 6*5 ins. Wing, 3*45 ins. Tarsus, 

 75 in- 



Brambling- Fringilla mofitifringilla Linn. 



The Brambling or Bramble-Finch (Plate 25) breeds in the 

 pine and birch forests of northern Europe and Asia, and comes 

 to us as a winter visitor and bird of passage. Migrants arrive 

 In large numbers on our north and east coasts late in September 

 or in October, and return in March or April, though I have 

 seen considerable flocks in May and laggard birds in June. 



This northern finch is the constant companion of the 

 Chaffinch in winter, feeding in and beneath the beeches ; its 

 distribution at this season depends largely upon the abundance 

 and fertility of the mast. Although this is its favourite diet, the 

 Brambling is largely insectivorous ; I am convinced that when 

 I have watched it turning the crisp beech leaves it has searched 

 as dihgently for insects as for nuts. Top-dressed fields are 

 frequented, and rough ground, where it feeds on the seeds of 



