98 BRITISH BIRDS. 
“The Brambling is a very irregular and uncertain visitor to the neigh- 
bourhood of Sheffield, and seldom appears two consecutive years in one 
locality in the same numbers. When once a flock of Bramblings appear 
in a district they seldom leave it until the following sprmg. All winter 
they are found either upon the fields or in the woods, and they are re- 
markably regular in their movements. Soon after their arrival they 
frequent the beech-woods to feed upon the nuts; and it is an animating 
sight to see the trees literally alive with these charming birds, each busy 
eagerly shelling out the coveted nuts from their hard sheath. The 
whole flock keeps up a noisy clamour of twittering notes, and may be 
closely approached. In winter a favourite ‘haunt of the Brambling is 
in the newly manured fields—for this bird I am certain is far more 
insectivorous at this season than is generally supposed. The flock keeps 
well together ; butif alarmed they fly off ina long straggling train, trooping 
away to some tree-top, which is soon darkened by their numbers, and their 
notes, heard from a distance, are like a low continuous murmur. As soon 
as the cause of their alarm subsides the birds fly down once more, a few at 
a time, until they are all engaged feeding as before. The Brambling is 
not abroad very late in the evening (in fact all Finches, as a rule, retire 
to roost early) and about sunset may be seen at their usual resting-place. 
When we have a “ Brambling-year” near Sheffield, great numbers of the 
birds always roost in the shrubbery in Meersbrook Park, in company with 
Redwings. The Redwings use this quiet retreat every season; and the 
Bramblings are equally attracted when they pay their nomad visits to the 
district. They are remarkably noisy birds, and sit upon the tree-tops 
twittering to each other until dusk; they sometimes fly up into the air ina 
compact mass, and after wheeling round several times again alight. They 
roost in the yew and holly trees, and a fair proportion of them seek quarters 
in the ivy. The Brambling and the Chaffinch seem fast friends and may 
always be found in company.” 
The Brambling frequently breeds in a spruce-fir, but more often in a 
birch. The nest is usually fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, and 
generally built in the fork of a large branch from the main stem. Oc- 
casionally they build at a less elevation. The nest is very handsome, not 
quite so neatly and compactly made as that of the Chaffinch, and rather 
larger. Its principal beauty is derived from the mixture of green moss, 
lavender-coloured lichens, and white birch-bark, interwoven with cobwebs, 
thistle-down, and buff inner birch-bark. The nest is lined with fine grass 
and feathers. Six is the usual number of eggs, sometimes there are only 
five, and occasionally as many as seven. They vary in size from ‘85 by ‘6 
inch to °75 by ‘55 inch. Some eggs of the Brambling cannot be distin- 
guished from those of the Chaffinch ; but, as a rule, the ground-colour is 
greener and the spots smaller and paler. The pale bluish-green ground- 
