BULLFINCH. 603 



decided bud-destroyer than any other British Bird. In 

 winter it feeds on hips, the fruit of the dog-rose, berries, 

 and seeds. Towards the end of April this bird leaves the 

 gardens for more secluded situations, and begins with its 

 mate to seek a place of security for its nest. Being rather 

 a late breeder, it seldom begins to build till the beginning 

 of May, and produces but one brood in the season. The 

 nest is formed of small twigs, and lined with fibrous roots, 

 the materials not very compactly entwined together, and 

 usually placed, four or five feet above the ground, on a 

 branch of a fir tree, or in a thick bush. The eggs are 

 four or five in number, of a pale blue, speckled and streaked 

 with purplish grey and dark purple. These are hatched 

 towards the end of May, after fifteen days' incubation. 

 The shy and retiring habits of the Bullfinch have been 

 already referred to, and it is known that a slight provo- 

 cation will in general cause it to desert its nest ; but W. 

 H. R. Read, Esq., of Frickley Hall, in Yorkshire, has 

 recorded in the Naturalist that in the early part of June, 

 1838, a Bullfinch allowed herself to be caressed while sit- 

 ting on her young ones, and would feed from the hand 

 without the least fear. The nest was in a laurel-bush, close 

 to the house. Mr. Neville Wood has recorded the finding 

 of an egg of the Bullfinch on the ground in Yorkshire so 

 late as the 15th of November. 



The young birds of the year continue to associate with 

 the parents through the autumn and winter till the pairing 

 time of the following spring ; and so constant is the at- 

 tachment of adult birds throughout the year, that they 

 are believed, like some other species among birds, to pair 

 for life. The Bullfinch will breed in confinement, particu- 

 larly in aviaries where there is sufficient space. Hybrids, 

 or mules, as they are more commonly called, have been 



