OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 29 



five to eight, of a uniform pale blue or greenish-blue, 

 resembling those of the Kedstart so closely that 

 they require the most careful identification. 



GOLDFINCH. 



THE great enemy of the Goldfinch in this country 

 is undoubtedly the bird-catcher. I have evidence of 

 the species being cleared out of some neighbourhoods 

 by the persistent efforts of the fraternity. Fortu- 

 nately, very few of the birds advertised by small 

 provincial dealers as caught in this country have 

 really been procured within our shores. They are 

 trapped in Germany, shipped to London, and then 

 sent down to the provinces. I have seen them 

 packed in Seven Dials for the purpose. 



Nearly all last winter I had the opportunity of 

 studying a small flock living in a large fallow field 

 at the back of my house, and happily, Goldfinches 

 still breed with us in fair numbers in certain 

 localities. I visited the grounds of a large private 

 house in Sussex last May, and saw several nests 

 containing eggs and young. One of the gardeners, 

 who took an intelligent interest in bird life, told 

 me that he had known as many as ten occupied 

 nests belonging to the species immediately round 

 the house in a season. 



By the aid of a ladder and three long sticks which 

 we lashed to the legs of our tripod we succeeded in 

 photographing a nest situated amongst the outer 

 branches of a variegated holly tree, but it was on 

 a dull, breezy day, and when the plates were developed 

 my brother discovered that they had been ruined 

 by the imperceptible vibration of the camera. We 



