GREENFINCH OR GREEN LINNET. 45 



plantation, and when the young are on the wing they follow 

 their parents, with much twittering, for a short period and then 

 join forces with others of their kind. By autumn the tlocks are 

 often considerable, and at that season and in winter the birds 

 consort with sparrows and buntings in the fields. The Green- 

 finch is a hanger-on rather than an associate of man ; it will 

 nest in large gardens and feeds freely in cultivated land. In 

 the stubbles, from which the flocks rise with a whirr of wings, 

 it picks up a certain amount of wasted grain, but also hunts for 

 the seeds of spurry and other w^eeds ; those of the charlock are 

 much favoured. As is the case with all finches, the young are 

 largely fed on insects, but are also supplied with a quantity of 

 crushed seed. The litter of the stackyard attracts the flocks 

 in winter, especially during frost, but, though some grain is 

 eaten and in spring buds are nipped off, the services of the 

 Greenfinch in keeping down weeds of cultivation should not be 

 forgotten. The flight of the bird is undulating ; its wings move 

 rapidly for a second or two and then are closed for a moment, 

 during which time the bird loses a little elevation, but the 

 bounds are not so marked as in the larks and wagtails. During 

 summer the pleasant twitter of the Greenfinch flocks is a 

 familiar sound ; it is conversational and interspersed with ques- 

 tioning calls of " pee-wee ? " 



The nest, loosely constructed of fine twigs, moss, grass and 

 wool, and lined with moss, hair or feathers, is built in un- 

 trimmed hedges, evergreens, or on the flat boughs of conifers ; 

 four to six eggs (Plate 34), white or creamy in ground with 

 speckles or blotches of brown, red or purple towards their 

 larger end, are laid in April or May, and a second or even third 

 brood is reared. 



The male in summer is bright yellowish green with slate- 

 grey on the head, flanks and belly ; the wings shade from 

 slate-grey to brownish black and have a bright yellow margin ; 

 the base of the tail is also bright yellow. The female is duller 



