THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 
and it is nothing nearly so social as other Finches, usually 
roaming in pairs. ‘The broods keep company for some 
time with their parents, however, and early in spring, 
about the mating period, an assembly may occasionally 
be met with. ‘The flight of the Bullfinch is rather slow 
and deliberate, and follows a dipping direction, the 
white rump of the bird enabling the eye readily to 
follow its course. It is a somewhat shy and secretive 
species at all times, and is fond of hiding in the cover, 
where a transient glimpse or the characteristic piping 
call-note of dyz-dyz are all that betray its whereabouts. 
Sometimes in spring its actions may be more readily 
observed as it moves about the fruit-trees eating the buds. 
It feeds chiefly on seeds, buds, and berries of various 
kinds, and in summer on insects and larve, upon which its 
young are reared. ‘The low, twittering song of the male is 
heard most frequently in the laying season, which is in 
April to June, or even later. The nest, often made in a 
fir or other evergreen in a shrubbery, or in a dense hedge- 
row or thicket, is largely composed outside of slender 
twigs, which support the cup, made of roots and hair, 
with an occasional feather or tuft of wool. The four or five 
(or even six) eggs are bluish green, spotted with purplish 
brown and grey, and sometimes sparingly streaked with 
darker brown. ‘Two broods are reared in the season. 
The adult male Bullfinch has the head, tail, and wings 
glossy black, a spot of dull red on the innermost secondary, 
and spots of grey on the wing-coverts; the back is clear 
bluish grey, the rump white; the chin is black, the re- 
mainder of the under parts brick-red, save the under tail- 
coverts and ventral region, which are white. Bill black ; 
tarsi and toes dark blackish brown ; irides brown. Length 
6 inches. The female resembles the male in the general 
colour pattern of her plumage, but the red and grey parts 
are brown, palest on the abdomen. The nestling also 
resembles the female, but has no black on the head. 
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