176 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



Cuckoo in the Chafifinch's nest, still the female Chaffinch 

 will hatch the eggs of other species. I once made a 

 Chaffinch hatch four eggs of the Dunnock, and I have 

 no doubt the old birds would have reared their strange 

 brood if the nest had not been destroyed. 



When the young are fully fledged they appear to be 

 abandoned by their parents, but in the month of 

 November Chaffinches congregate in flocks and continue 

 partially gregarious throughout the winter. I would 

 here make a few remarks on the separation of the sexes 

 of these birds in the winter months. This singular 

 separation do^s not, as far as I can learn, take place in 

 resident species, or, at most, in very limited numbers, for 

 our resident birds are to be seen in company the winter 

 through. In November, however, vast flocks of Chaf- 

 finches appear, notably in the beech woods, whither they 

 go to feed on the mast, and what is strange about them 

 is they are all or nearly all males. These Chaffinches are 

 not the birds who remain stationary with us throughout 

 the year, but I am led to conjecture that they arrive 

 from the north. A little later in the season quantities 

 of female Chaffinches arrive, and frequent the corn lands 

 in company with other Finches. Thus we see that the 

 migrations of the Chaffinch are not confined to the male 

 alone, but the sexes separate to perform them, owing no 

 doubt to the higher susceptibility to cold in the male 

 birds causing them to leave before the females ; for 

 after they have been here some little time both sexes 

 are seen in each other's company. I always notice, too, 

 that in the severest winters female Chaffinches are most 

 numerous, the male birds doubtless being much further 

 south in a warmer atmosphere. 



In the summer months the Chaffinch is an insect 

 feeder, but at all other times seeds and grain form his 

 staple sustenance. The Chaffinch is sometimes seen 



