BULLFINCH. *J\ 



this is certainly not so with many that have appeared in Fair 

 Island, Shetland and other places. A western European form, 

 P. p. europea Vieil., very like our bird, has not been detected in 

 Britain. 



The short, stout bill of the Bullfinch (Plate 31), and the rich 

 colour of the breast of the male, prevent confusion with any 

 other bird, but it is so retiring at most times that it has a false 

 reputation for rarity. In summer it is a woodland species, 

 where the only sign of its presence is often the soft clear call^ 

 " whib, whib," or a fleeting vision of the white on its back. In 

 winter it is more of a wanderer, and visits gardens, where its 

 criminal attacks on fruit buds lead to its undoing. Almost 

 certainly it pairs for life, for the male and female are usually 

 together in winter, flitting along the hedgerows or crossing the 

 open with undulating flight. The low, mellow song is accom- 

 panied by swagger on the part of the male, for both sexes are 

 said to sing ; he moves his big head from side to side, sways 

 and puffs out the red feathers of his breast. During the song 

 I have heard him utter a curious low crooning " eurr, eurr," a 

 secondary note. Destruction of fruit buds is a frequent crime 

 of the Bullfinch, and insects are seldom eaten, although 

 Newman affirmed that the larvae of winter moths, which do 

 serious damage to fruit trees, are taken. The attacks are 

 deliberate ; the bird perches, nips off every bud within reach, 

 then moves to a fresh place ; it will eat gooseberry buds as 

 well as those of tree fruit. The main diet consists of weed 

 seeds ; its choice is cathohc. I have watched it on dock, 

 dandelion, nettle, violet and forget-me-not ; heather, self-heal, 

 charlock and blackberries are also favoured. 



The nest is a cunningly interwoven flat platform of sticks, 

 almost as frail as that of the Wood-Pigeon ; the shallow cup is 

 formed of roots with a little hair in the lining ; it is built in 

 tree, hedge or bush, but usually well concealed. Four to six 

 dark greenish blue eggs, speckled and streaked with red and 



