lO 



British Birds. 



The Greenfinch. 



It is a ijround-loving species, 

 and in North America it is 

 considered to be a most useful 

 bird, as it feeds upon insects 

 and worms, and does but little 

 damai^e to crops. Its nest is 

 placed on the ground and has 

 a dome of grass, so that it 

 is generally well concealed. 

 The eggs are pale greenish 

 white with brown or grey 

 spots and blotches. 



The Greenfinch 

 [Lignviniis chloris]. The Finches are numerously represented 

 as a family in Great Britain, and we have a good many resident 

 species, of which the Green finch is one of the best known. The bright 

 colours are confined to the male, the hen bird, as is usual in this family, being much 

 more dingil_v coloured than her mate. The Greenfinch is found all over Europe, and as 

 far east as Central Asia, and a considerable migration takes place to the British Islands, 

 the birds which arrive from the Continent being generally of a brighter and purer colour 

 than our own resident birds. Like most Finches, the Greenfinch feeds its young upon 

 insects, but in the autumn and winter it consorts with others of its kind and feeds 

 principally on grain, visiting the fallow-fields and the stock-yards for this purpose. 

 The young, when brought up from the nest, are easily tamed, and make amusing little 

 pets, but they are dangerous denizens of an aviary, as their powerful bills inflict pecks 

 upon their weaker companions which have generallv a fatal result. The nest is often a 

 rather large struc- 



THE FINCHES. 



Family 

 FRINGILLID.E. 



ture, not very care- 

 fully constructed, 

 and built of moss 

 with a few twigs or 

 roots outside, and 

 lined with horse- 

 hair. The eggs are 

 four to si,\ in num- 

 ber, and are bluish- 

 white with blackish 

 spots or lines. 



The Hawfinch 

 (CoccotJi ra usl es 

 coccotlirn nst cs). 





The Hawfinch. 



