BULLFINCH. 169 



tations as are thick enough to afford it the desired seclusion, 

 and soon begins to build. It has been said to produce but 

 one brood in the season, but this seems doubtful since it 

 frequently has eggs before the end of April, and eggs may be 

 found unhatched at the end of June. The nest is a beauti- 

 ful and very peculiar structure, formed of small twigs, chiefly 

 of the birch, beech or hornbeam, deftly interlaid and inter- 

 crossed so as to become a very solid platform, in the middle 

 of which is a recess curiously wrought with fibrous roots, 

 some of them of considerable length but coiled and entwined 

 together, those which form the lining being of course the 

 finest, and the whole is usually placed on a leafy branch from 

 four to six feet above the ground. The eggs are from four 

 to six in number, of a greenish-blue, which though variable 

 is never very deep in shade, speckled, spotted and occasion- 

 ally streaked with purplish-grey and dark brownish-purple 

 markings, generally distributed towards the larger end and 

 frequently in a zone-like form. They measure from *79 to 

 •67 by from '51 to *52 in. Notwithstanding its natural 

 shyness and the mistrust it may well have of man, the Bull- 

 finch nearly always permits a close approach when upon its 

 nest ; and will occasionally allow itself to be caught by the 

 hand thereon.* Little doubt can exist that this bird, like 

 the Nightingale (vol. i. page 314), owes much of its being 

 able to maintain its numbers in this country to game-pre- 

 servers, who, during the critical period of breeding, so 

 jealously protect its woodland-retreats from disturbance. 



The young continue to associate with their parents through 

 autumn and winter till the following spring ; and so constant 

 is the attachment of these birds to one another, that they 

 are believed to pair for life. 



The song of the Bullfinch has no remarkable quality of 

 tone to recommend it, and indeed is so feeble as to be seldom 

 heard except when one is close to the bird, which ceases from 

 the performance on the least alarm. It is accompanied by 



* The Bullfinch will breed in confinement, particularly in aviaries where there 

 is sufficient space. Hybrids have been produced between this species and some 

 of the other Finches. 



