282 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



but large flocks of them put in an appearance in 

 autumn at so short a distance from us, that they can 

 scarcely fail to visit the birch clumps of West Heath. 

 The Hawfinch (Coccothraustes atrogularis) in severe 

 winters visits us in small parties, and at long intervals 

 remains till after the breeding season some young 

 ones having been shot in the village in the summer of 

 1829, and others on one or two occasions since. At 

 no great distance from us, however, in an easterly 

 direction, a few pairs are permanently resident ; and 

 our local observer has had more than one opportunity 

 of seeing their nests, their eggs, and their young. 

 " The nest of this bird," he says, " with a strong family 

 resemblance to that of the bullfinch, is built of much 

 coarser materials. The one in my possession consists 

 of a very scanty foundation of twigs, above them grey 

 lichens, and, lastly, a lining of not very fine roots 

 altogether a slovenly structure, with very little more 

 concavity than that of the ringdove ; and it was some- 

 what insecurely lodged in a fork among the upper and 

 smaller branches of a plum tree in a garden. It 

 appears that these birds are frequently found nesting 

 in that locality, to the no small disgust of the owner 

 of the premises, who assured me that he would gladly 

 dispense with his many opportunities of studying their 

 habits. In proof of this he had laid violent hands on 

 several specimens and, adding insult to injury, had 

 imprisoned them in glass cases in such elaborately 

 unnatural positions, that their nearest of kin, if put to 

 the test, might well fail to recognize them as ordinary 

 members of the family ! " * The Greenfinch (Chloros- 

 piza Chloris) is not uncommon, and is generally dis- 

 tributed both in the uplands and the valley. It frequents 

 gardens, orchards, and shubberies, where its nest is 

 often found. In the autumn it associates with other 



In 1863 we met with a nest of this species in the Park, and, 

 more recently, a young hawfinch was caught in the shrubbery 

 near the mansion. 



