62 



Con- j]2 the valleys of the French, Swiss, Italian and Austrian Alps it is 



Europe, tolerably common in the breeding season. S. B. Wilson obtained a nest 

 on the Engstlen Alp in 1886 at a height of over 6000 ft., and according 

 to Fatio it is chiefly found in the Alpine cantons up to about 5700 ft., 

 and more rarely in the Jura. Although the nest has not actually been 

 found in the Carpathians, the birds are seen in Hungary in V7inter and 

 spring. Reiser describes a form of Redpoll as breeding in the Balkans, and 

 Radde mentions it as nesting in the Caucasus, but up to the present no 

 specimens are available for examination. On Helgoland a pair bred in 1872. 

 Nest. The sites adopted by these birds vary considerably. In the south 



of England nests may be found in alders, osier beds, on small fruit trees, 

 on the outskirts of small plantations or shrubberies, and in high straggling 

 hedges. Another not uncommon site is among young conifers, especially 

 larches; and though most nests are built at no great height from the ground 

 there are a few exceptions to the rule on record. In Yorkshire it has 

 been recorded as nesting on the ground among bracken {Zool. 1902, p. 194); 

 in Scotland in tall heather, 2 ft. from the ground; among ivy on a tree 

 trunk in Somerset {Zool. 1903, p. 457), while on the other hand nests have 

 been found 40 ft. or more from the ground in ashes, elms, chesnuts, 

 larches, etc., and in Ireland it has bred in furze and currant bushes, honey- 

 suckle or briars (Ussher). It is not uncommon to find several nests in 

 tolerably close proximity, and some preference in shown for the neigh- 

 bourhood of rivers or marshes. The nest is very characteristic, being 

 composed chiefly of coarse stalks and roots, the ends of which project and 

 give it a rough, unfinished look: sometimes on a foundation of a few twigs. 

 At other times moss, wool and lichens are used. Internally the nest is 

 beautifully lined with white vegetable down as a rule, but sometimes with 

 hair or feathers, or even both. Diameter about 2 J- in., height 2 in., diameter 

 of cup 1^ in., depth 1 in. 

 Eggs. 4 — 6 in number, but usually 5. The blue is of a greener shade, 



and when fresh is decidedly deeper in tint than that of the other 

 Finches of this genus. The shell is also less glossy, and the markings, 

 which consist of a few spots or small streaks chiefly, at the large end, 

 are dark purplish brown, with underlying paler reddish brown spots or 

 blotches. 

 Breeding ^^ ^^^ south of England according to Newton, eggs are known to 



Season. Jiave been laid by the end of April, but the more usual time seems to 

 be from mid-May to the end of June. In Derbyshire I have found most 

 nests between May 25 and June 15. Ussher gives the latter part of May 

 or the month of June as the usual time for eggs in Ireland. 



In the Alps, according to Fatio it nests from the end of April to 

 late in May, and Wilson found fresh eggs on June 8. 



