76 A. F. CROSSMAIf — NOTES ON BIEDS 



5th, 1890, on Eoderick's Farm, near Latton Mill, about 100 yards 

 from the Essex border, while it was sitting on the top of a little 

 oak-tree in a hedgerow. It was a young male. The bird has 

 frequently occurred in Hertfordshire. 



Hawfinch ( Coccothraustes vulgaris). — This bird has been recorded 

 fairly often in Hertfordshire, but does not appear to have been con- 

 sidered a regular resident. My experience in 1895 makes me think 

 that at any rate in the district around Berkhamsted the hawfinch 

 is not only resident, but is even plentiful. In March I saw several 

 of these birds, and eventually on March 27th I saw a flock of at 

 least fifty hawfinches on the edge of Berkhamsted Common, near 

 the rifle-butts. They utter a note very like the "tit. tit" of 

 a robin, biit of course a good deal louder, and, when flying, the 

 white on their wings and tail shows very distinctly. After that 

 date I continually saw hawflnches when I went to likely places, 

 and on May 19th I found a nest with four eggs. It was placed 

 on the branch of an old thorn-tree, and was made of sticks and 

 lichens, with a lining of fine roots and a little grass. In my opinion 

 the hawfinch is a much commoner bird than it really appears to be, 

 as it is often very hard to see on account of its shyness. 



Goldfinch ( Carduelis elegans). — I only saw a goldfinch on three 

 occasions in 1 895, in the neighbourhood of Berkhamsted. Mr. Elvers 

 mentions its occurrence at ISawbridgeworth in the spring, and I saw 

 some there in August. 



Siskin {Carduelis spinus). — Mr. Bivers, in a letter, told me of 

 the occurrence at Sawbridge worth, about March 12th, of three 

 of these birds, which stayed there for some days. There were 

 two males and a female, and the former sang a good deal. They 

 were very tame, allowing him to go within a few feet of them. 

 Mr. Littleboy mentioned the occurrence of the siskin several times, 

 always in the winter, but since his death it does not seem to have 

 been recorded in the Society's ' Transactions.' 



BEiMBLiNG {FringiUa montifringilla). — This bird occurred in 

 vast numbers towards the end of March in the neighbourhood of 

 Berkhamsted. "When flying, bramblings look very like chaffinches, 

 but one of their chief distinctions is the white above the tail. I 

 saw many which were assuming the breeding-plumage, their black 

 heads showing up conspicuously. They were usually feeding on 

 the ground under beech-trees, and were always restless, continually 

 fluttering off the ground and settling again. Their principal 

 note seems a long-drawn " chee. " On March 20th I noticed 

 one of these birds with a white head. The latest date on which I 

 observed the brambling was April 6th, when I saw a single one at 

 Pendley Manor. " This bird has," according to Mr. Saunders, 

 "very rarely been found nesting in the British Isles, usually 

 retiring further north to breed ; but the late Mr. T. H. Booth 

 stated that in June, 1866, while fishing in the river Lyon, in 

 Perthshire, he had occasion to climb a beech-tree to disentangle 

 his line, when he disturbed a female brambling from her nest 

 with three eggs." 



