MOUNTAIN FINCH. 467 



in his Cornish Fauna ; and E. H. Rodtl, Esq. of Penzance, 

 lias sent me word that a pair of these birds were killed 

 near the Land's End in the winter of 1836-37, which are 

 now preserved in his collection. William Thompson, Esq. 

 of Belfast, includes it in his notes sent me as one that oc- 

 casionally occurs in winter in various parts of Ireland. Sir 

 William Jardine, in reference to Dumfries-shire, says it ap- 

 pears in flocks about the beginning of November, frequent- 

 ing beech trees, and feeding on the mast ; and Mr. Mac- 

 gillivray mentions having fallen in with a flock also on some 

 beech trees about a mile from Corstorphine, near Edinburgh, 

 from which he shot two birds, and has seen many others that 

 had been killed in Scotland. 



It is not an uncommon bird in Denmark. Mr. Hewitson 

 saw them at one place in the southern part of Norway, 

 where they were breeding ; it is known to breed also in the 

 woods of Norholm and Drontheim, and is said to breed 

 in Lapland. M. Nilsson says that in the southern parts of 

 Sweden it is only a winter visiter, appearing in autumn, 

 and remaining till April. This species is described as build- 

 ing in fir trees, the nest formed of moss, and lined with 

 wool and feathers : the eggs four or five in number, white, 

 spotted with yellow ; they have lately been described as 

 resembling those of the Chaffinch : the egg, as figured in a 

 Continental work, very closely resembles that of our well- 

 known Greenfinch, in size, colour, and markings, but the dark 

 spots are a little larger. The call-note of this bird is a sin- 

 gle monotonous chirp. 



This species ranges in winter over the European Conti- 

 nent as far south as Genoa and Rome ; was seen by Mr. 

 Strickland at Smyrna ; and is included by M. Temminck in 

 his Catalogue of the Birds of Japan. 



The male in winter has the beak yellowish white, with the 

 point bluish black ; the irides brown ; the top of the head, 

 cheeks, ear-coverts, nape of the neck, and the back, mottled 



