[62 GREENFINCH. 



examples have been styled L. aiirantiivcntris. Eastward, the Green- 

 finch is found as far as the north-west of Persia and Turkestan ; but 

 in Eastern Siberia, China and Japan, the representative species is 

 L. siiu'ci/s, with greyish head, brown mantle, and yellowish-brown 

 under parts. As a straggler the Greenfinch has occurred in 

 Madeira, and as an introduced species in the United States. 



The nest is placed in hedges, shrubs and evergreens, or some- 

 times in tolerably tall trees, frequently amongst \vy, and occasion- 

 ally in such unusual situations as a cavity in a tree or a hollow 

 at the top of a gate-post. It is a rather loose and slovenly struc- 

 ture, built, without any attempt at adaptation to the surroundings, 

 of coarse fibrous roots, moss and wool, with a lining of finer 

 materials, ha:ir and feathers. The eggs, 4-6 in number, are pale 

 greenish-white, blotched, spotted, and often zoned with reddish- 

 brown and purplish-grey: average measurements •83 by '55 in. Not 

 unfrequently several nests may be found in close proximity. The 

 first laying takes place about the end of April, and two broods are 

 often reared in the season. The young are fed upon caterpillars 

 and other insects, and soft seeds ; later, berries of various kinds are 

 also consumed ; and in autumn flocks may be seen on the stubbles. 

 The song is poor, while the call-note is a long-drawn hve-e-e, often 

 repeated by the male as he sits on the top of a hedge or bush. In 

 confinement the Greenfinch is easily domesticated, and shows a 

 moderate capacity for learning the songs of other birds • it also 

 interbreeds freely with several species of Finch, and, in a wild 

 state, with the Linnet. 



The adult male has the lores dusky black ; forehead greenish- 

 yellow ; a golden-yellow stripe over each eye ; crown, neck and 

 mantle olive-green, turning to yellow on the rump ; secondaries 

 brownish-grey, darker on the shafts and inner margins ; quills greyish- 

 brown with yellow outer webs ; central tail-feathers and terminal 

 portion of the rest blackish-brown with greyish edges, the basal 

 portions yellow ; under parts greenish-yellow, greyer on the flanks ; 

 bill dull flesh-colcur, darkest at the tip ; legs and feet pale wood- 

 brown. Length of the large form about 6 in., and wing 3-5 in. ; 

 but a brilliant specimen of the smaller race, now before me, measures 

 rather less than 5 in. and the wing barely 3 '2 in. The female is 

 somewhat smaller and far less brightly coloured than the male, the 

 head and mantle being greenish-brown with darker striations, and 

 the under parts generally dusky, with very little yellow. The young 

 are dull brown, tinged with yellow, and spotted and streaked with 

 darker brown. 



