FRINGILLIN.t. 



171 



THE HAWFINCH. 



COCCOTHRAUSTES VULGARIS, Pallas. 



The Hawfinch is a bird of shy and retiring habits, and unless 

 attention be attracted by the shrill and — when once heard — unmis- 

 takable whistle, its presence may easily escape detection. There 

 can be no doubt it has been steadily increasing in numbers during 

 the last fifty years, and, though still local in distribution, the nest 

 has been found in every county in England, excepting Cornwall, 

 even as far north as the Lake district and Northumberland, though 

 there the bird becomes rare. From Worcester and Hereford it has 

 now spread to Brecon, where it breeds, but in the rest of Wales it 

 is still uncommon. In spite of the extension of the metropolis, the 

 Hawfinch has not quite ceased to nest in Middlesex, and it is com- 

 paratively common in some parts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, 

 Bucks, Berks and Surrey, while in Kent it may almost be called 

 abundant. In Scotland, a young bird obtained near Edinburgh 

 was, in the opinion of Mr. W. E. Clarke, bred in the neighbour- 

 hood, and the species has been taken in winter in the Solway 

 district, while said to have been seen in Sutherland. To Ireland 

 this Finch is only a rare and irregular wanderer in winter, and has 

 never been obtained at any of the lighthouses. 



Even to the south of Scandinavia the Hawfinch is only an 

 occasional visitor, but in Russia it has been found nesting as far north 

 as the St. Petersburg district Over Central Europe, in suitable 



