250 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



with hair and usually feathers. Late in April or early 

 in May the four to six eggs are laid. They are white, 

 with a faint greenish tinge. The markings are small 

 spots of faint gray and deeper rufous brown, often ar- 

 ranged in a sort of zone round the broadest part of the 

 egg. A second brood is very often reared. 



THE HAWFINCH 



(Coccothraustes vulgaris). 

 Plate 80. 



There can never be any mistake about the Hawfinch. It 

 possesses in exaggerated degree some of the most typical 

 Finch characteristics, and is in every way a thoroughly 

 distinctive species. The plumage is brilliant with orange- 

 brown and glossy black, and the size of the bird is con- 

 siderably above the average for the British members of 

 the family. The bill is enormously large and stout, and 

 represents the extreme development of the conical 'seed' 

 bill among our native birds. Inside, as has been lately 

 pointed out, there are several hard knobs above and 

 below, the function of which is apparently the crushing 

 of hard seeds. The song of the Hawfinch is feeble ; a 

 four-times-uttered whistle constitutes the easily recognis- 

 able call - note of the species. In habits, this Finch is 

 inclined to be very retiring. 



The Hawfinch is another good example of a most 

 remarkable extension of the British range within recent 

 times. About 1825 the Hawfinch was still unknown, 

 except as a rather scarce visitor to the south of 

 England, and a few years later it was recorded as 

 nesting within our area. During the whole second half 

 of last century it steadily increased as a resident species. 



