THE BULLFINCH. 



PYRRHULA VULGARIS. 



THOSE who know the Bullfinch only as a cage-bird 

 would hardly recognise him in his native haunts, so 

 different does he there appear. In a state of nature 

 there is scarcely a more active and restless bird ; in 

 a cage " what a falling off is there ! " Let us take a 

 peep at him in some of his favourite resorts, and 

 compare him with the sluggish songster that hops 

 lazily from perch to perch, and pecks alternately at 

 hemp and sugar. 



We have not to go far from the house, for in 

 the orchard hard by we are almost sure to find a 

 Bullfinch ; but we must go very quietly, for he is a 

 shy bird, and never suffers too near an approach. 

 Do you hear that note ? There it is again ; a soft 

 double whistle, uttered very plaintively. That is 

 the call-note of the Bullfinch, and there is the 



