BLACK-THROATED GROSBEAK. 359 



though it is not so rare in the latter country as has been sup- 

 posed, several specimens killed in the southern counties having 

 come under my inspection. I have never had the good fortune, 

 however, to fall in with it alive ; which I regret, as it renders 

 it necessary for me to refer to those who have studied its habits 

 for a brief account of them. According to M. Temminck, it 

 feeds, on the continent, where it occurs chiefly in the mountain- 

 ous districts, on the seeds of various trees, such as the plane- 

 tree, pines, and cherry ; and places its elaborately constructed 

 nest on the highest branches, laying from three to five eggs, of 

 an ash-grey colour, tinged with green, and marked with brown 

 spots, and bluish black lines. Montagu, who is perhaps more 

 to be depended upon than any other British ornithologist, 

 makes the following statement, as the result of his observa- 

 tion. 



" These birds usually visit England in the autumn, and 

 continue with us till the month of April. They appear in 

 small flocks, seldom more than four or five, but are in no parts 

 common. We once saw as many as a dozen together, feeding 

 on the hawthorn berries in Badmington Park in Gloucester- 

 shire. The facility with which they break the hard stones of 

 that fruit to get at the kernel is astonishing. It is done ap- 

 parently with as much ease as other small birds break hemp- 

 seed. 



" No instance has been recorded of its breeding with us ; but 

 Dr. Latham assures us he had one sent to him in the summer 

 months. What the song of this bird may be in the season of love, 

 authors are silent about ; but we have heard it sing pleasantly, 

 in low plaintive notes, even in winter, when the weather has 

 been unusually warm. The nest is very beautifully constructed 

 of lichens, liverwort, and vegetable fibres, lined with feathers 

 and other soft materials, placed in the upper branches of a tree. 

 The eggs are from three to five in number, of a bluish-green, 

 spotted with olive-brown, with a few irregular black markings.'' 



Mr. Jesse, in his " Gleanings,"" informs us, however, that 

 it not only stays with us all the year, but breeds in this country, 

 the nests being frequently found amongst the Hornbeam pol- 

 lards in Epping Forest, 'where the bird may be seen at all 



