224 FRINGILLID^E. 



extremities of the branches, are neglected. Plum and 

 cherry trees are treated in like manner, the ground being 

 strewed with the bud-scales and rudiments of flowers. 

 Some persons endeavour to deter them by whitewashing 

 the trees, and are said to find this plan effectual. Others 

 wind a straw rope round the gooseberry-bushes, so dis- 

 guising their natural appearance. This plan I found 

 perfectly successful one year, but the next it was entirely 

 without effect. A new one which I have adopted this 

 year is somewhat more complex. In addition to the straw 

 bands, I have stretched long strings, with feathers attached 

 here and there, so as to resemble the tail of a paper kite ; 

 and, by way of offering them an inducement to stay 

 away, T have sprinkled peas on the ground in an adjoining 

 lane, in the hope that they will partially, at least, satisfy 

 their hunger on these. - A bird with so strong a beak as 

 that of the Bullfinch is evidently designed to crush its 

 food, not to swallow it whole ; accordingly, I find my peas 

 disappearing, but the parchment-like rind is left on the 

 ground, a substance too indigestible even for the gizzard of 

 a Bullfinch. When not occupied in disbudding fruit-trees, 

 Bullfinches are most frequently observed in tall and thick 

 hedges, either in small flocks as described above, or in 

 pairs. They are rarely met with singly, and yet less 

 frequently associated with birds of another species. Occa- 

 sionally a pair may be seen feeding with Sparrows and 

 Chaffinches in the farmyard ; but this society seems one 

 of accident rather than of choice. When disturbed in a 

 hedge they are singularly methodical in their movements^ 

 first one flies out, bounds, as it were, through the air in a 

 direction away from the spectator, perches on a twig in the 

 thick part of the hedge, and is followed by the rest of the 

 party in single file. When the passenger has approached 

 within what the bird considers a safe distance, the same 

 manoeuvre is repeated, each bird following, with dipping 

 flight, the line marked out by its predecessor, and all 



