THE BULLFINCH 
PYRRHULA VULGARIS 
Loca names in surrounding counties : 
Status 1N British Avirauna: A fairly common and 
widely distributed resident in all wooded and cultivated 
districts. 
RapiaL DisrrRiBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s: All the available evidence tends to show that the 
Bullfinch is commoner in the southern suburbs than in 
the northern ones, the proximity of the Kentish and 
Surrey orchards possibly being the reason. Whether the 
Bullfinch breeds in Battersea Park I am unable to say 
but there is a possibility of it. It is known to do so, 
however, at Dulwich, Streatham, and Wimbledon, and 
probably in Kew Gardens. It is certainly rare and local 
at Richmond, and the same remarks apply to all or nearly 
all of the Middlesex suburbs. I can record the species 
in summer from the Wembley, Willesden, and Hamp- 
stead areas, and the bird is certainly a local and scarce 
resident in the Epping and Wanstead districts. Across 
the river it may be recorded from Greenwich, Eltham, 
Beckenham, and Sydenham ; whilst further out still it 
becomes increasingly numerous in the Crays and the 
Croydon and Banstead districts. During the non-breed- 
ing season the bird wanders a good deal, and may then be 
observed in the more central areas, gardens and private 
grounds especially. I have records from Clapham, Peck- 
ham, Tooting, Kensington Gardens, and Regent’s Park. 
The species, however, is very erratic in its appearance. 
The Bullfinch may casually visit any!suitable spot in 
Greater London during autumn and winter, but in 
summer it is local as a resident, and its retiring ways at 
that time greatly assist in its being overlooked. ‘After 
the nesting season the bird seems for ever on the wander, 
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