6o THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES- 



he heard in England, says, " I have never heard a song that 

 began so liltingly end with such a quick, abrupt emphasis." 

 He thought the ending sounded like " whittier," but Jefferies 

 called it '•'ginger-beer"; others hear the words "little de-ar," 

 or " little Joe-ey." Occasionally there is a harsh low, rattling 

 secondary song, between the snatches, a grating " krrr." The 

 flight note is " chip, chip," heard when flocks pass over with 

 undulating flight, or when disturbed from their hunt for beech- 

 mast. With Bramblings the birds spend much of the winter 

 in and under beeches, but top-dressed fields, especially when 

 waste hops or grain are used, are favoured haunts ; the stack- 

 yard is freely visited, and I have seen hundreds seeking seeds 

 along the tide-line. Insects are largely eaten in spring and 

 summer ; in April, when the sycamore aphis swarms upon the 

 saplings, the Chaffinch joins the newly arrived warblers to hunt 

 for the small honey-dew filled insects. As a flycatcher, sallying 

 from and returning to some perch by a river or road where it 

 can see passing insects, it is skilful. 



The spring display mainly consists of showing off its white 

 wing patches ; the male perches stiffly with elevated crest and 

 turns slowly from side to side. During the pairing season he 

 is pugnacious ; one cock in Somerset, for four consecutive 

 springs, fought daily with his own reflection in a window. 



The nest is small, compact and neat, constructed of felted 

 moss, lichens, wool and any soft substance, and lined with hair, 

 feathers or down (Plate 24). The hen is the architect, but 

 occasionally the cock brings materials ; as a rule, however, he 

 perches near and sings. It is placed in a hedge or the fork of 

 a tree ; in the latter situation the lichens often help to conceal 

 it, but it is by no means always inconspicuous. I have known 

 printed and coloured paper woven into the nest and one with 

 the edge neatly bound with white string. The Chaffinch does 

 not often build in abnormal situations, but I have seen one nest 

 firmly constructed in a child's shoe which had been thrown into 



