BULLFINCH. 29 



cubation the Bullfinch becomes very quiet and shy, and 

 the female, as is usual with so many Finches, Ls a close 

 sitter, reluctant to leave her charge, yet slipping very 

 stealthily away when disturbed. The male bird is not 

 seen much in the vicinity of the nest until the young are 

 hatched. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Bullfinch are usually four or five in 

 number, sometimes as many as six. They arc bluish- 

 green or greenish-blue in giound colour, spotted with 

 purplish-brown, and with paler underlying markings of 

 brownish-pink. Some eggs are streaked with very dark 

 brown, as well as spotted. The markings usually form 

 a zone round the large end of the &^<g (sometimes round 

 the small end), but in some specimens they are more 

 uniformly distributed over the entire surface. Average 

 measurement, 75 inch in length, by "55 inch in breadth. 

 Incubation, performed by the female, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The deep, dear blue of 

 the ground colour, and their size, readily distinguish the 

 eggs of the Bullfinch from those of any of the allied 

 species breeding within the British area. 



Family FRINGILLID^. Genus Passer. 



Sub-family FRINGILLINM. 



HOUSE SPARROW. 



Passer domesticus lyLvmmis). 



Double Brooded. Laying season, February to October. 



British breeding area : Breeds more or less 

 abundantly throughout the British Islands wherever 

 houses are found, with one or two exceptions : these 



