46 The Hawfinch 



occasiou I called upon them to try aud obtain a cock bird for breeding purposes; 

 and, seeing that they had paired a Greenfinch and hen Canary in one of their 

 cages, I asked whj- they were trying to breed such ugly unremuuerative mules. 

 They replied that their stock was getting weak, and they always introduced Green- 

 finch blood when their birds were falling off in vigour, aud then bred out the 

 taint, pairing the mules with Canaries. This has been supposed an impossibility; 

 yet it was spoken of as a matter of course. Since then other mules, said to have 

 been bred from hybrids, paired with either parent stock, have been exhibited at 

 the Crystal Palace. 



Family^ FRINGILLID.'E. Subfamily— COCCOTIIRA USTIN/E. 



The Hawfinch. 



Coccotliraustcs vulgaris, PallAS. 



This extremely ungainly bird is distributed over nearly the whole of Europe; 

 breeding in Russia as far northwards as St. Petersburg, but only visiting 

 Scandinavia in the winter ; its range extends eastwards to Asia Minor, 

 and the Caucasus, and possibly to Northern Persia and Turkestan. On the 

 African Continent a few examples breed in Algeria, and the species has been 

 known to straggle as far northward as Egypt. 



In Great Britain the Hawfinch is local, but according to the late Howard 

 Saunders has been increasing in numbers for the past Aft}' 3-ears ; he attributes 

 this fact to the increase of market-gardens. Formerly it was rare in Wales and 

 the extreme western counties from Cornwall to Cumberland ; but breeding in suitable 

 localities in most of the counties of England and in Ireland. To Scotland it is 

 still chiefly an accidental winter visitant, though one nest was obtained in 1903 

 near Newport, in the east of Fifesliire. 



Although the form of the Hawfinch is anything but graceful, its colouring is 



