88 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



Ireland it is an occasional winter visitant. Intro- 

 duced into Co. Sligo by Colonel Cooper (Zooly 

 1879, p. 425), Co. Antrim {Irish Nat., 1898, p. 51). 

 Of late years this species has become much com- 

 moner in England, nesting now in many counties 

 where formerly it was observed as a winter visitant 

 (Zool, 1895, pp. 272, 308). Note the curious falcate 

 shape of the central quill feathers. In summer the 

 beak of the adult male is leaden blue, in winter 

 livid flesh colour. H. Doubleday has given a good 

 account of the habits of this bird, as observed by him 

 in Epping Forest (Mag. Zool. and Bot., i. p. 448). 



BULLFINCH. Pyrrhula europma, Vieillot. PI. 11, figs. 

 3, 4, Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, 0*65 in. 



Resident and generally distributed. Has been 

 met with once in Shetland and once in Orkney. It 

 is known locally as Alpe, Alph, and Olph; in Nor- 

 folk Blood-olph (Sheppard and Whitear, Trans. Linn. 

 Soc, 1825, p. 25 ; Stevenson, i. p. 234 ; and Gurney, 

 Zool, 1878, p. 288), and Noj^e in Co. Dublin (Rutty), 

 but in Lancashire the Tits are all called Nopes, 

 sometimes with a prefix, as Blue Nope, Black- 

 headed Nope (Mitchell). Black varieties are occa- 

 sionally taken in a wild state ; one of the blackest 

 I have seen was trapped at Brentford in July 1875, 

 and the condition of its plumage and claws showed 

 that it was a perfectly wild specimen. Melanism in 

 this bird, as observed in captivity, is usually attri- 

 buted to an inordinate diet of hemp-seed. 



