THE CHAFFINCH. 171 



THE CHAFFINCH, 



(Fringilla calcbs.) 



PLATE XI. FIGURE T. 



THIS pretty and lively little bird is a permanent resident in Britain, 

 and is generally distributed from the southern counties of England 

 to the extreme north of Scotland and the Orkney Islands. It is also 

 common in most parts of the European continent, being stationary 

 in the warmer, and migratory in the colder countries. It has been 

 met with in the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the north of Africa. 



Towards the end of autumn the number of our resident birds is 

 much increased by the arrival of visitors from Sweden and Norway. 

 They cross the sea in large flocks, usually reaching our shores in the 

 night, as is testified by the numbers that are killed by contact with 

 the windows of lighthouses. Linnaeus, in his "Fauna of Sweden," says 

 that only the females migrate from that country, but the males remain; 

 lie has therefore bestowed the title of ccelebs on this species, with 

 reference to the solitary state of the latter. Professor Nilsson, how- 

 ever, states that at the present time the larger portion of both sexes 

 leave the country, but in distinct flocks. A similar separation takes 

 place in Britain about the month of November, and from that period 

 until the return of spring few females are to be seen. The males 

 associate with Yellow Buntings, Sparrows, and other birds of similar 

 habits, feeding in the stubble-fields while the weather continues mild, 

 and the ground free from snow, but visiting stackyards and other 

 places where food and shelter are obtainable during the depth of 

 winter. These flocks break up towards the end of March, and a 

 terrible amount of wrangling and fighting takes places connected with 

 the selection of partners. Often two or more rival males may be 

 seen perched on the branches, singing with all their might and main, 

 and with every appearance of intense excitement; when their voices 

 fail they rush at each other with partly expanded wings and open 

 beaks, and fight furiously, not unfrequently wounding each other 

 severely. As soon as they have paired, a spot is selected for the nest, 

 generally the forked or knarled branch of an old tree, and building 



