192 FINCHES. 



others retire into coppice-woods, which they animate by their gaiety, and also 

 by their song, which is by no means devoid of melody ; indeed, the chaffinch, 

 when taken from the nest, will imitate the notes of the canary and of the 

 nightingale, if kept near those birds, and can even be taught to articulate some 

 words. 



Their song usually consists of a sharp repetition of a sound resembling the 

 word "Fink" or "Pink," and it is from the former of these that the word 

 Finch is derived. Although his musical powers are by no means perfect, the 

 note of the chaffinch is always heard with pleasure, being associated with early 

 spring ; and the sprightliness of the little bird renders him a universal favourite, 

 except with gardeners, whose radish-seed, sowed at aperiod when food is usually 

 rather scarce, is too great a temptation for him to resist, and which he will fre- 

 quently steal almost before it has been covered by the soil. 



Sub-Family V. 



THE BUNTINGS. EMBLRIZINyE. 



General Characteristics. — Bill conical, acute, compressed, with the culmen more 

 or less straight to the tip, the lateral margins sinuated, and more or less inflected ; 

 the interior of the upper mandible furnished with a palatine knob, which is more 

 or less apparent ; the wings moderate and somewhat pointed ; the tarsi about the 

 length of the middle toe, and scutellated ; the hind toe longer than the inner, and 

 robust ; the claws slender and more or less curved. 



The birds which compose this family are met with both in the 

 Old and New World, particularly in the former. They collect 

 together in flocks by themselves, or in company with other seed- 

 feeding birds, at the approach of winter, and remain in society till 

 the return of spring, when they scatter themselves singly or in 

 pairs over the open country. They do not remove to any great 

 distance in their migrations ; their flight is undulating and quick ; 

 their food consists of the seeds of plants, grasses, and reeds, and 

 in warm weather, insects. They build in low bushes, or on the 

 ground behind tufts of grass. Their nest is composed of dried 

 grasses, lined with softer materials. They lay from four to six 

 eggs. 



The Buntings are distinguished from other Passerine birds by 

 their conical, short, and straight bill, but more especially by the 

 existence of a knob in the roof of the upper mandible, which is 

 made use of as an anvil on which to break and comminute hard 

 seeds. They do not, however, feed exclusively on vegetable matter, 

 but, like most of their order, subsist partly upon animal substances. 



