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THE CHAFFmCH. 



FRINGILLA CCELEBS. 



Forehead black ; crown and nape greyish blue ; back and scajiulars chestnut, 

 tinged with green ; rump gi-een ; breast wine-red, fading towards the abdomen 

 into white ; wings black, with two white bands ; coverts of the secondaries 

 tipped with yellow ; tail black, the two middle feathers ash-grey, the two 

 outer on each side black, with a broad oblique white band. Female — head, 

 back and scapulars, ash-brown, tinged with olive : lower parts greyish white ; 

 the transverse bands less distinct. Length six inches. Eggs greenish purple, 

 streaked and spotted with purple-brown. 



" Gai comme Pinson," as gay as a Chaffinch, is a familiar 

 French proverb, which describes not only the character of 

 the bird, but the peculiar temperament which in France is 

 an essential part of gaiety. The Chaffinch is a smart, 

 lively, active bird, always in a bustle, flitting here and 

 there incessantly, and staying long nowhere, always 

 wearing a holiday look, so trim and spruce is he, and 

 rattling through his song with wondrous volubility. It 

 received the name coelebs, bachelor, from Linnaeus, who 

 observed that the flocks in winter are composed for 

 the most part either exclusively of males or of females; 

 and it has since his time been remarked that flocks of 



