S3 



In the Alps according to Fatio it is found breeding in the Haute Engadine 

 up to about 5400 ft. In the Iberian peninsula it is commonest in winter, 

 but many remain to breed locally where there are trees, even in the ex- 

 treme south of the country. It is plentiful also in Corsica, Sardinia and 

 Sicily, but in the latter island and in southern Italy is chiefly met with 

 in the mountains. This is also the case in the southern part of the Balkan 

 peninsula. In the north of Europe the Chaffinch becomes scarce in the 

 north of Scandinavia and Russia, but a few pairs breed as far north as 

 Enare Lappmark and up to the limits of the birch region, while Collett 

 observed a pair in June on an islet near the North Cape. In Russia 

 it is recorded from the Kola peninsula, near Archangel, and the Urals 

 to lat. 62°. 



In the British Isles is as often in the fork of a bough in a hedgerow Nest. 

 as in a tree, usually from 4 to 15 ft. high.* In the north of Scotland 

 it is occasionally built in low bushes almost on the ground. In the great 

 European plain it is generally from 9 to 30 ft. high, but Rey has found 

 nests in young conifers at a height of 3 ft., and Fatio and Irby mention 

 isolated examples of nests built within a few inches of the ground in 

 Switzerland and Andalucia. There is a good deal of variation in the 

 materials used and also in size, but as a rule it is most artistically con- 

 structed of wool, moss, dry grasses, roots, etc., studded externally with 

 lichens, fragments of bark, or even paper, affixed with spiders' webs; and 

 lined chiefly with hair and a few feathers. The nest, which is built by 

 the hen, is well felted together, and generally shaped to fit the supporting 

 bough. The cup is deep, with somewhat concave sides, diameter nearly 

 2 in., depth 1| — 1-J; external diameter about 3 |- — 4, height If — 3 in. 



Usually 5 in the first brood, but 6, and on the continent even 7, have Eggs. 

 been found; while the second brood often consists of only 4. There is 

 considerable variation in colouring: the normal ground colour being pale 

 greenish stone colour, with spots and streaks of dark purple brown, often 

 suffused with cloudy patches of pale sienna brown, as though the colour 

 from the spots had 'run'. Sometimes the darker markings are wanting, 

 and only pale brown cloudings and speckles are met with; and occasionally 

 a clutch is found entirely without markings. Many eggs show a tendency 

 to a bluish ground, and a very remarkable variety with dark purplish 

 brown, almost black, markings on a clear blue ground has occurred not 

 only in Great Britain, but also in Germany, where it is not uncommon in 

 some districts, e. g. near Glatz in Silesia (Hartert), Greece and Scandinavia. 

 The shell is dull and almost devoid of gloss. 



* Instances of nests on wall fruit tree?, or against walls, have occasionally 

 been recorded; also among ivy on tree trunks. 



6* 



