1 88 BULLFINCH. 



and of Italy, and reaches to Naples and Sicily ; wandering occasion- 

 ally to other islands in the Mediterranean, and even to Algeria. In 

 the mountainous portions of St. Michael's, one of the Azores, is 

 found a large insular species, P. iiiin-iniis, the sexes of which are 

 nearly alike in plumage, both of them being of a dull grey without 

 any white on the rump ; a remarkable development, as no connect- 

 ing link is known in the Canaries or in Madeira. 



The unmistakable nest of the Bullfinch is a platform of fine twigs 

 of the birch, beech, fir &c., surmounted by fine roots and a little 

 hair woven into a shallow cup to receive the eggs. These, 4-6 in 

 number, are of a clear greenish-blue, speckled and streaked with 

 purplish-grey and dark brownish-purple, especially at the larger end : 

 average measurements "73 by '55 in. A white-thorn hedge, or a 

 fork near the extremity of a branch in some leafy tree or evergreen, 

 are among the sites usually selected ; and two broods are frequently 

 reared in the season, the first eggs being laid in the latter half of 

 April. The duties of incubation devolve upon the female. The 

 young are fed partly on insects and their larvK, and partly on 

 seeds softened by the parent ; but later in the year I have seen both 

 old and young birds feeding upon the berries of the rowan-tree, 

 dog-rose, hawtliorn &c., while the seeds of such weeds as the dock, 

 thistle, ragwort, groundsel, chickweed and plantain, are largely con- 

 sumed. It may even be doubted whether the Bullfinch's destruc- 

 tiveness to buds in spring may not originate in a search for concealed 

 insects, but in any case it is certain that a charge of shot fired 

 into the tender branches of a fruit-tree does far more damage than the 

 depredations of the bird. The call-note is a soft din, din. 



The adult male has the forehead, lores, throat, and head above 

 the eyes, glossy blue-black ; mantle smoke-grey ; larger wing-coverts 

 black, tipped with white, which forms a conspicuous bar ; quills dark 

 ash-colour, with narrow whitish edges to the emarginate portions 

 of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ; secondaries glossy blue-black ; rump 

 pure white; tail glossy blue-black ; cheeks and under parts bright 

 brick-red ; vent white ; bill black ; legs and feet dark brown. Length 

 6 in. ; wing 3 in. The female is of a browner grey on the upper 

 parts, and the under pjarts are vinous-brown. The young diff'er 

 from the female in having no black on the head, and the bar on the 

 wing buflish-white. An entirely black nestling, found with three 

 other young birds of the ordinary colour, attained after moulting the 

 ^plumage of the female. 



