THE CHAFFINCH. 



FRINGILLA CCELEBS. 



VERY striking in its actions, plumage, and song is 

 the sprightly Chaffinch, whose vigorous if somewhat 

 monotonous notes poured forth, it may be, from 

 the top of some apple-tree at no great distance from 

 the house seem meant as a challenge to the whole 

 feathered choir. The Chaffinch, in point of fact, 

 is one of the most ornamental song-birds to be found 

 in the vicinity of man's dwelling ; whether it is also 

 one of the most useful is not so certain. Being a 

 Finch, a hard-billed bird, with muscular gizzard, it 

 is by nature constituted to live upon seeds and 

 grain, and, during the winter months at least, these 

 form its chief subsistence. 



In very cold weather it may often be seen flock- 

 ing, with Sparrows, Greenfinches, and Linnets, to 

 the stackyards in search of scattered grain, and even 



