THE FINCHES 1561 



twigs, and others built of hawthorn stems. The nest is often lined with fine grass 

 and hair, together with a few feathers; but one was composed exclusively of cotton 

 waste. 



Much less liable to exhibit white or pied phases of plumage than the linnet, the 

 lesser redpoll is occasionally of a nearly uniform cinnamon brown. In captivity it 

 interbreeds with the canary, but the offspring of this cross are small and insignificant 

 brown birds, devoid of the fine musical powers which most canary males possess. 

 The typical redpoll is light brown above, with dark centres to the feathers; the fore- 

 head being dark crimson, while the throat and breast are suffused with rosy pink, 

 especially in the breeding season. The small insular form of redpoll, which for 

 many years was supposed to breed only in Great Britain, differs from the former bird 

 in being smaller and of a more reddish color. The sexes are generally alike, but 

 the female does not assume the rosy tint upon the breast. 



The snow finches form a small group possessing the characteristic 

 18 form of the true finches, but with the long wings falling short of the 

 tail by less than the length of the metatarsus. Chocolate or reddish brown appears 

 to predominate in the plumage of this group, often associated with rose color, but 

 the type of the genus is conspicuously pied with white. Snow finches are chiefly 

 found in the mountains of Central Asia, but some species range over the northern 

 parts of Siberia, Japan, and Northern China. The best known is the common snow 

 finch of the mountains of Southern Europe, and ranging eastward to Palestine, but 

 replaced in Persia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan by the eastern snow finch. 



The common snow finch (Montifringilla nivalis) breeds in the high- 

 est regions of the mountain ranges of Central Europe, adapting its 

 habits to the desolate regions in which it passes the summer; and we 



owe to Mr. Scott Wilson the following account of its habits: " It was 

 observed at a greater height than any other Alpine bird. At the foot of the Lam- 

 mem glacier, seven thousand six hundred feet, we found it breeding at the summit 

 of the Furka Pass, as well as at the Gemmi. It lays about the end of May or the 

 beginning of June, at a time when the ground in these Alpine regions is entirely cov- 

 ered with snow; from which cause I suppose it is obliged to place its nest under the 

 roofs of buildings; or, where there are no buildings, in rocks which do not hold the 

 snow, the former not only affording them a dry nesting place, but one which also 

 protects the nest from the storms of snow and sleet, which have by no means ceased 

 to fall by the end of May. A nest obtained on the Furka is principally made of dry 

 grass stalks, intermingled with which are tufts of hair, wool, leaves, shavings of 

 wood, and a few feathers. The inside walls are lined with ptarmigan's feathers, 

 both white and brown, these being woven together very compactly with horsehair, 

 and in a nest before me also with strands of green worsted. The bottom of the nest 

 is not lined with feathers. The outside diameter, which is nearly round, is eight 

 and one-fourth inches; the inside diameter three and one-half inches; thus the inside 

 cup is small in proportion. The eggs are pure white, and from three to five in num- 

 ber." Mr. Wilson adds that the snow finches in winter descend from the Alpine 

 regions to the lower valleys. The snow finch is a beautiful bird, rather larger than 

 the greenfinch or sparrow, with long wings, in which the primary quill feathers are 



