158 A. S. VEKET — NOTES ON BIRDS 



diaffincli was found by a hedger last summer, and Mr. Hughes, of 

 The Swillet, called my attention to it. A hollow piece of stone- 

 ware had been thrown into a hedge, and, lodging in the centre, 

 the birds had made choice of it as a foundation for their nest. 

 The man carried the nest in to show Mr. Hughes, and, after he 

 had replaced it, the birds took to it as before. The circumstance 

 suggests the thought that the chaffinches may have considered 

 that the safety of their nest would be better assured by making 

 the choice they did, particularly as the hedge was close to a 

 highway and also to a field-path ; but, if so, their hopes were 

 doomed to disappointment, for, after the young were hatched, 

 they were discovered by the marauding and too evident boy, and, 

 alas ! destroyed. 



The Bullfinch {Pyrrlmla europcea). — Hard words are often 

 spoken against the bulliinch, and if the matter rested there, 

 " Bullie " would not be ruffled by so much as a feather. Unfortu- 

 nately, however, powder aud shot are too often resorted to by 

 way of settlement. Nevertheless a little fact speaks for itself. 

 In the early part of last spring I noticed that the bullfinches were 

 exceedingly busy among the gooseberry-bushes in my garden, yet 

 there was afterwards a magnificent crop of fi'uit, so good, indeed, 

 as to excite the admiration of my neighbours, many of whom came 

 to see it. 



It is very amusing to watch my bullfinches of a winter's evening. 

 One portion of the hedge surrounding the garden terminates 

 in a bushy growth of Salix caprcea, and tliere nightly at 

 dusk the birds assemble before betaking themselves to a wood 

 adjacent, where apparently they roost at night. I can only suppose 

 that it is their time for relaxation after the serious business of 

 the day, and that, so met together, the news current in Birdland 

 is fully discussed, and many indeed and anxious must be the 

 forecasts of the weather, a very weighty subject with these 

 children of the wild, and perhaps the only one that ever seriously 

 obscures the horizon of their lives. The bullfinch is exceedingly 

 partial to the berries of the privet when mellowed by frost, and 

 it also eats those of the woody nightshade [Solanum dulcamara). 



Yellow-Hammer [Emheriza citrinella). — The yellow-hammer is 

 very partial to strawberry-plants as nesting-sites in my garden. 

 The nest is placed close to the roots of the plants and is well 

 concealed by the foliage, and I usually have one, and frequently 

 more, every season. 1 once found a nest of this species placed 

 in an ash sapling some five or six feet from the ground. 



Thk Rook {Corvus frugilecjus). — The term '■' frugilegus'" — fruit- 

 gatherer — applied to the rook, seems at first sight to be somewhat 

 undeserved, and I have seen it criticized and even ridiculed in print. 

 Nevertheless the bestowal of the epithet is evidence of very 

 correct observation of the habits of the rook on the part of its 

 sponsor. I myself have seen it feasting upon cherries, curiously 

 enough preferring them before they were ripe. Notwithstanding 

 this, such instances are so infrequent as to appear to be merely 



