64 



BRITISH BIRDS 



THE FINCHES. 



The Brambling, Bramble Finch, or Mountain Finch. 



This bird is very like the Chaffinch in size, shape and 

 habits, but is a much less conspicuous creature, the pre- 

 vailing tints of whose plumage are black and brown, vari- 

 ously intermixed and producing a by no means unpleasing 

 result. The female is a trifle smaller than the male, has 

 a less distinct crest, and is paler in colour. It is a 

 migratory species, arriving in winter and departing in 



spring, though a 

 few pairs some- 

 times remain in 

 the north to 

 breed, and in 

 an aviary they 

 will also nest 

 occasionally. 



Chaffinches 

 separate during 

 the winter, the 

 males going one 

 way and the fe- 

 males and un- 

 moulted young 

 of both sexes 

 another ; but 

 it is uncertain 

 whether the Brambling acts in the same way or not. The 

 latter bird is fond of beech-mast, and gets very fat upon it. 

 If kept in an aviary it may take what is going, but will also 

 require ants' eggs or insect food in some form or other. 

 Instances are recorded by different writers where the 

 Brambling has nested in this country, or rather in Scot- 

 land, as well as in garden aviaries ; but although we have 

 kept a number of them for years, we have never found 

 that any of them evinced the slightest desire to continue 

 the species, while Chaffinches kept under precisely similar 

 circumstances, built and laid freely though, owing to a 



The Brambling or Mountain Fin( ii. 



