188 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



grounds of Holland House, Kensington, though I do 

 not recollect to have heard of their breeding there. 

 I have never noticed that the Hawfinch associates 

 with other species, and in the gardens around 

 Lausanne, where this bird and the Common Crossbill, 

 Loxia curvirostra, were both exceedingly common in 

 the winter of 1850-51, the two species always kept 

 apart, probably on account of the pugnacious cha- 

 racter of the Hawfinch, as the Crossbill is remarkably 

 sociable and apparently fond of the company of other 

 birds. My two caged Hawfinches above mentioned 

 readily devoured meal-worms and house-flies, but I 

 imagine that this is an unnatural and acquired taste. 

 We have met with this species in various parts of 

 Europe ; it is locally very abundant in Southern 

 Spain, where it is commonly known as " Casca- 

 nueces," i. e. Nutsheller. In the neighbourhood of 

 Algiers we found it in small numbers throughout our 

 stay in the country, which extended from the end of 

 October 1877 till May ]S78. It is perhaps hardly 

 necessary to mention that this bird is often known in 

 this country as the Grosbeak. 



In illustration of the irregular habits of this species 

 I may add that in May 1892 we found seven or eight 

 occupied nests of Hawfinch in yews and hawthorns on 

 the pleasure-grounds at Lilford, and many others were 

 reported in the immediate neighbourhood. On the 

 other hand, no news of a nest of this bird reached 

 me from any part of our surrounding district either in 

 1893 or 1894. 



