200 



FRINGILLID^. 



tinent of Europe, and not unfrequently in enormous flocks. 

 Pennant mentions an instance in which eighteen were 

 killed at one shot — a statement which I can well believe, 

 having seen in the winter of 1853 by far the largest flock 

 of small birds I ever beheld, and which was composed 

 entirely of Bramblings. They were employed in search- 

 ing for food on the ground in a beech wood, and, as I 

 approached, flew up into the branches in thousands. The 



Brambling, called also the Bramble Finch and Mountain 

 Finch, resembles the Chaffinch in habits^ size, and general 

 tone of colour ; and as it often feeds in company with it, 

 is probably sometimes confounded with it by an inex- 

 perienced eye. It arrives in this country in Il^ovember, 

 and takes its departure early in spring, never having been 

 known to breed here. Its song is said to be something 

 like that of the Chaffinch, and its nest, built in fir-trees, 

 to be constructed with the same marvellous art. 



