BRAMBLING 193 



birches, where a tangle of interlacing, springy branches impeded every 

 step. 



Nesting. — In its choice of nesting site the brambling shows a marked 

 preference for birch trees. Nests in conifers are by no means rare, 

 however, and "The Old Bushman," H. W. Wheelwright (1871), 

 regards a spruce as the normal situation in parts of Sweden. The 

 Pearsons discovered that in Russian Lapland the earlier nesting 

 bramblings built mostly in pines, while the later birds resorted to 

 birches, which suggested that the latter tree was chosen only when it 

 bore sufficient foliage to shelter and conceal a nest. Occasionally a 

 pair of bramblings will build in an alder or, yet more rarely, an oak. 

 In a long series of records from different som'ces the heights at which 

 brambhngs' nests have been found ranged between 3 and 30 feet, 

 most of them being placed between 5 and 15 feet. The little nest can 

 be very inconspicuous, and if well up in a birch, it can be very difficult 

 to reach without the aid of climbing irons. 



For the foundation of its nest the brambling builds a platform of 

 small twigs and dry grass. This supports a cup of grasses interwoven 

 with fragments of birchbark, feathers, and strands of the black, hair- 

 like lichen (Usnea) that festoons the pines of the northern forests. 

 Catkins, vegetable down, scraps of gray lichen plucked off the bark of 

 a nearby tree, spiders' webs, and (perhaps only rarely) wasp paper 

 are attached to the outside of the cup. The warmly felted lining 

 consists of fine grasses, Usnea, hair, vole or lemming fur, and, at times, 

 spores of one of the clubmosses. Near peasants' holdings bramblings 

 frequently take horsehair or cowhair for their nests, while farther 

 afield they collect the castings from the reindeers' pelts. Dresser 

 (1905-1910) describes a striking nest built of "white marsh-cotton." 

 A curious, abnormal example seen by Pearson (1904) in Lapland was 

 built up to a height of a foot. 



In appearance a brambliug's nest closely resembles that of the 

 better known chaffinch. As a general rule, though there are excep- 

 tions, the chaffinch's is the smaller of the two and the more neatly 

 finished. One experienced Norwegian oologist, the late J. A. Thome, 

 made careful notes of the many bramblings' and chaffinches' nests he 

 came across and found that the former measured between 110 and 

 120 mm. in diameter, with cups between 50 and 60, while in the latter 

 the overall measurements varied between 90 and 95 mm. with cups 

 between 50 and 55 mm. Some brambhngs' nests, though by no means 

 all, may be further distinguished by the free use of feathers as lining 

 material, it being exceptional to find many in a chaflSuch's. 



Eggs. — Six or seven eggs constitute a normal clutch with the bram- 

 bling, but sets of five are not uncommon. Occasionally a nest will 

 hold as many as eight or even nine eggs, while, on the other hand, 



