22 BRITISH BIRDS 



THE CALANDRA LARK. See under Larks. 



THE CARRION CROW. See under Crows. 



THE CHAFFINCH. 



This bird is not a Finch at all, but a species intermediate 

 between the Finches and the Buntings, for, unlike the Finches, 

 it does not disgorge its food, and, like the Buntings, it 

 consumes as much insect as it does vegetable food, and 

 feeds its young exclusively upon the former. These state- 

 ments may be denied, but can easily be verified by obser- 

 vation, and are commended to the notice of the unprejudiced 

 reader as the result of close personal observation extending 

 over not a few years. 



The male Chaffinch is a very handsome bird, and when 

 in good feather and health, about one of the most showy 

 that we possess : he is about the same size as a well-grown 

 Canary, but will not produce mules with the latter, or, as 

 far as we are aware, with any other bird, unless it be its 

 very near relation the Brambling, or possibly the American 

 bird known by the name of Nonpareil, which appears 

 to bear considerable likeness to it. 



It is superfluous to describe in detail the appearance 

 of such a well-known songster as the cock Chaffinch, but 

 it may be briefly stated, that while he is resplendent with 

 pretty well all the colours of the rainbow, his little hen 

 is an unpretending quakerish-looking person in grey attire, 

 relieved by bands of white upon the sleeves, that is to 

 say, upon the wings, and both sexes are distinguished by 

 the adornment of a crest, which they raise or depress at 

 pleasure, though that of the male is more conspicuous 

 than the one that is sported by the female. 



The nest of the Chaffinch is the ne plus ultra of avine 

 architecture, and is pointed to by most writers on the 

 attractive subject of ornithology as the exact model of 

 what a nest should be. It is often placed in an apple or 



