96 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



the maggots from the diseased buds of the fruit- 

 trees, but, with his powerful beak, twitches out 

 buds which are perfectly sound, and so, wherever 

 he abounds, war is waged against him ; but he is 

 a beautiful bird, and easily tamed. It is but a 

 few days ago that I saw a hen bullfinch flying 

 about in a shop, the owner of which has tamed it 

 in the most remarkable way. Though perfectly 

 free to wander about the house at will, it has no 

 wish to leave its mistress, to whom it is most 

 devotedly attached. I think it is one of the 

 tamest birds I ever saw, and apparently under- 

 stands every word its mistress says to it. It has 

 the greatest antipathy to men, and if a man 

 approaches it, cranes out its neck, opens its mouth 

 and makes a screaming kind of noise, showing 

 its anger and aversion as strongly as it is capable 

 of doing. 



Bullfinches abound in the garden of a neigh- 

 bour of mine, which is situated but a couple of 

 hundred yards from my own gardens ; but, strange 

 to say, I have never seen a single one on my 

 premises, and this is the more peculiar because 

 my neighbour's sons are for ever shooting them, 

 whereas I myself, unless it may be when the 

 snipe are in, never allow a gun to be fired off 

 near the gardens, for fear of scaring the birds. 

 I have been long puzzled as to the reason of this 

 decided preference, and can only conclude that 

 they prefer the higher, drier soil of my neigh- 

 bour's grounds to my own, which are low-lying, 



