24 The Birds of Pembrokeshire. 
LESSER REDPOLL, Zinofa rufescens—A resident in small num- 
bers, and acommon winter visitor. A pair were seen, evidently 
nesting, by the late Mr. Stokes, of Cuffern, in the spring of 
1887, at Ferny Glen, near Roch, in a larch tree. Small flocks 
regularly appear in the autumn, and one of about a dozen birds 
generally visited our gardens every winter, remaining with us 
until the spring had well advanced. Mr. Dix states: ‘‘I have 
seen one flock of about twenty this winter, on 3rd January ; 
they were feeding on some alders near Cardigan.” Mr. Tracy 
considered this small species “rare,” adding, “a few frequent 
the mountainous part of the county.” Mr. Jefferys, of Tenby, 
has informed us that among some eggs sent to him from Boncath 
to be named, was one marked: ‘Found here in May, nest like 
Goldfinch,” which proved to be an egg of the Lesser Redpoll. 
BULLFINCH, 2yrrhula europea—A common resident. In the 
spring and summer the birds are, for the most part, concealed in 
the leafy copses where they are nesting, and, as Mr. Dix well 
remarks, they appear to be more numerous during the winter, 
because they then leave the woods. We had always nests in 
our grounds at Stone Hall, and never interfered with these 
delightful little birds, in spite of the bad character they bear 
with gardeners for their destruction of fruit and other buds. One 
winter our paths were littered with the husks of our lilac buds ; a 
flock of Bullfinches had been frequenting the bushes for days, 
and we thought sorrowfully that our garden in the following 
spring would miss the sweet perfume of the flowers; but, to our 
surprise, we had as good a show of bloom as we had ever had, 
so we then concluded the birds had only done us good by a 
judicious thinning of superabundant buds. We are never 
without several Bullfinches in our aviary, the larger Russian 
variety and our homely ‘‘ Hoop,” because there are no other 
little birds that are so easily tamed and become so affectionate. 
Mr. Tracy remarks: ‘‘ Bullfinches, in confinement, if fed on 
hempseed, soon change colour, and in two or three years 
become black. One kept for several years at an inn in Pem- 
