FRINGILLID. 181 
however, seen it since, in the very fine collection of 
Mr. Byne, at Bishop’s Hull, and compared it with 
the description of the Serin Finch given by Mr. 
Newman, in his edition of Montagu’s Dictionary, 
with which it agrees so nearly that I do not think 
it would be right to omit all notice of the capture, 
though it is still possible it may be an escaped 
prisoner. 
The Serin Finch is an inhabitant of the South of 
Europe:* it is very common in the South of 
France, and a few instances of its capture in 
Britain are recorded in the ‘ Zoologist,’ although it 
had escaped the notice of Yarrell and other writers 
on British Ornithology. 
The food of the Serin Finch consists of seeds, 
mostly those of weeds, such as groundsel, plantain 
and chickweed. ‘The nest is said to be placed in 
fruit-trees, beeches and oaks. + 
The specimen in Mr. Byne’s collection is—as 
near as I could measure through the glass of the 
case—four inches and a half in length. The beak 
is shorter and not so pointed as that of the Siskin, 
of a darkish horn colour. The plumage is as 
* This would rather favour the supposition that Mr. 
Byne’s bird was an escaped prisoner, as—unlike most of 
our other Finch visitors—this bird coming from the South 
would probably be a summer rather than a winter visitor. 
+ Montagu’s Dictionary, by Newman. 
R 
