138 THE FINCHES 



heard it in Norway, speaks much more highly, and (as I well believe) 

 justly, of the brambling's song. He says : " The true song is sweet 

 and melodious, consisting of several flute-like notes, somewhat 

 resembling those of the redwing," and adds that it is "only heard 

 in the breeding season." l No doubt, when the bird sings here it is not 

 his " true song " there must be his true northern home to inspire it. 

 The goldfinch's call-note is " twitt-itt-itt" whilst repetitions and varia- 

 tions of this simple theme make up its song, 2 which is, however, a 

 sweet one. The greenfinch has two call-notes, each uttered by both 

 sexes, most frequently during flight. The first is a " dididit," or "twit, 

 twit, twit" which may be further prolonged, the second a more 

 vehement "yell, yell" etc. (from one to half a dozen), which belongs 

 more to autumn, and may be called the flocking note par excellence. 

 Both these are combined with the song, or, rather, they together 

 constitute it, with the exception of one note at the end, with which 

 I am very familiar, and which Witchell terms "a coarse wheeze, 

 almost a rattle ; " 3 my own opinion of it, and of its apparent signifi- 

 cance, I have already recorded. 4 The last may be (and constantly is) 

 uttered singly, and (as I know to my cost) repeatedly. It never 

 begins the song, and is sometimes left out of it, being not often 

 uttered in flight, as the other parts are. 5 



The call-note of the linnet which may also become an alarm-cry 

 is a curious rapid chuckle, followed by a twitter, like the " dit-it-it " of 

 the greenfinch. 6 The song is, apparently, a repetition (yet surely much 

 ennobled) of the same chuckling strain, and is often uttered in chorus 

 by many birds together. 7 Bailly expresses it by the syllables "pi, pi, 

 pi, pi " (as pronounced in French), and draws attention to the fact that 

 the hens contribute a "petit gazouillement" to the general effect, some of 

 the older ones having even a "suite de sons assez soutenus." 8 Naumann 9 



1 As quoted in Sliarpe and Dresser's Birds of Europe. 



2 Witchell, Cries and Call-notes of Wild Birds. 



3 Ibid. * See ante, p. 92. 

 6 Witchell, op. tit. 6 Ibid. 



T Ibid. s OrnitJiologie de la Savoie. 



9 Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, iii. 



