BLACK-THROATED GROSBEAK. 361 



young are hatched about the third week of ^lay, and as soon 

 as they are able to provide for themselves, they unite with the 

 old birds, in flocks varying in numbers from fifteen or twenty 

 to one or even two hundred individuals. In this manner they re- 

 main through the winter, feeding on the hornbeam seeds which 

 have fallen to the ground, and only separate at the approach of 

 the breeding season. I believe the male has no song worth notice. 

 In warm days in ^larch I have heard them, when a number have 

 been sitting together on a tree, uttering a few notes in a soft 

 tone, bearing some resemblance to those of the Bullfinch. The 

 plumage of the young bears considerable resemblance to that 

 of the young Greenfinch. The throat is bright yellow ; head, 

 neck, and upper parts olive-brown ; the under parts paler, 

 each feather tipped with brown. In winter the bill is a 

 pinkish horn-colour, but becomes deep blue in the breeding 

 season."' 



The change of colour in the bill is thus similar to that ex- 

 hibited by the Chaffinch, which I observed several years ago, 

 and which I have not found mentioned by any author. It is 

 quite possible that, although the Hawfinches are now perma- 

 nently resident in several parts of England, they may at a 

 former period have been merely winter visitants. In Scotland 

 this would appear to have been the case with the Missel Thrush, 

 which appeared occasionally in flocks during the winter in dis- 

 tricts where it was not seen in summer. Twenty years ago, 

 it was scarcely ever observed in the neighbourhood of Edin 

 burgh at the latter season, insomuch that I was scarcely dis 

 posed to believe the evidence of my eyes when I first saw a 

 pair of them at Rosslyn ; but now they are quite numerous, 

 and may be found in summer in the immediate vicinity of the 

 town, where they breed. 



Young. — According to ^I. Temminck, " the young differ 

 in a remarkable degree from the old birds : the throat being 

 yellow ; the face, cheeks, and top of the head pale yellowish ; 

 the lower parts white or whitish ; the sides marked with small 

 brown spots, with which all the feathers are terminated. 



