HAWFINCH. 47 



white patch on the wing is conspicuous when flying and when 

 at rest. Its sudden, penetrating whistle is also distinctive ; it 

 is either a call or warning note, but not an alarm, and is usually 

 heard when the bird is seeking safety in flight. It is said to 

 have a simple song. 



The massive bill is strengthened internally by horny pads : 

 the pulp of fruit is rejected and the stones cracked to get at 

 the kernel. A young bird in its first plumage hung tenaciously 

 to my finger, allowing me to lift it without losing its grip. Fruit- 

 stones are turned in the bill so that, when crushed, they will 

 split in half, and the litter of split cherry, holly, yew, hornbeam 

 or haw seeds, all neatly in halves, often reveals the unsuspected 

 presence of the bird. Pea-pods are split along the hinge, crushed 

 until they open, and the empty pods show the marks of the 

 strong bill. I have known a bird in July, but a few days out 

 of the nest, to be killed when devouring peas. Caterpillars 

 are eaten, and a young bird took mealworms from my fingers 

 shortly after its capture. In winter the Hawfinch is somewhat 

 gregarious and occasionally gathers in large flocks ; Mr. M. V. 

 Wenner saw between 60 and 70 feeding in February in old 

 thorns. 



The nest is built in a tree or bush, often on a horizontal 

 bough at a fair height above the ground ; it may be in a tall 

 holly or other evergreen in a garden, in a fruit tree in an orchard 

 or a forest tree in a dense wood. It is flat, composed of twigs 

 and roots, lined with finer roots, hair or fibre, and frequently 

 has lichens added to the outer materials. The eggs, four to six 

 in number, are almost bunting-like in their bold irregular 

 streaks and blotches on a buff, white or tinged ground 

 (Plate 34). They are laid in April or May. 



In addition to its great lead-blue bill, which forms an almost 

 continuous curve with the forehead, the inner primaries are 

 distinctive ; they are notched and curved, shaped Hke a bill- 

 hook, and are white on the inner web ; the blue-black outer 



