230 THE HAWFINCH. 



resembles in form, but not in the colours of its plumage, 

 the head and back being a deep black, some of the feathers 

 margined with yellowish grey ; the rump white, tinged with 

 yellow ; the foreneck and breast light reddish brown ; the 

 sides spotted with black. In its flight, mode of walking, 

 and other manners, this bird is so like the Chaffinch, with 

 which, especially in the winter, it generally consorts, that 

 whether on trees or on the ground, the two species can 

 scarcely be distinguished from each other. This has a 

 rapid and undulating flight, and its wild note is tweet 

 very similar to that of its congener. The Brambling is 

 generally distributed over this country during winter ; but 

 it leaves in the spring for the north, and is not known to 

 breed here, although now and then an occasional straggler 

 has been seen through the summer. Bewick says they 

 have appeared on the Cumberland hills as early as August, 

 but usually they are much later. They are said to do 

 good service to the land, by devouring the seeds of the 

 knot-grass. In severe weather they sometimes feed upon 

 mast; hence the name Beechfinch, sometimes applied to 

 them. In reference to the numbers which sometimes fly 

 together, Pennant says that he once had eighteen sent him 

 from Kent, which were all killed at one shot. 



THE HAWFINCH (Cocothraustes atrogularis), sometimes 

 called the Common or Black-throated Grosbeak. 



With this bird we enter upon another genus of the 

 Passerine family, called Cocothraustes, or Grosbeak ; all the 

 species, of which there are but few, belonging to this 

 genus, are remarkable for the thickness of their conical 

 bills, the lower mandible of which is extremely strong, 

 enabling them to crack the hardest kernel as easily as 

 shell a grain of hempseed. The one above named is the 

 only bird of its genus which appears in this country. It is 

 also the largest of native passerine birds, being over seven 

 inches in length. It is by no means elegantly formed, the 

 body being stout, and the head and neck dispropor- 

 tionately large ; yet the beauty of its plumage renders it 

 very attractive. The head and neck are yellowish brown ; 

 the throat and space about the eyes black ; the forepart of 



