THE CHAFFINCH AND BRAMBLING. 173 



influenced by their temperament. Thus the Robin 

 and Wren moult early in the season ; so, too, do the 

 Starling and the Thrush. Now all these birds sing more 

 or less frequently throughout the winter, but the Bunting 

 and Meadow Pipit and Chaffinch moult later, and con- 

 sequently are seldom if ever heard to sing until the 

 following season. All birds, therefore, which moult late 

 begin to feel the cutting blasts of Boreas ere they are in 

 a fit state to sing, and therefore never do so till the return 

 of spring, or at most on those calm and genial days which 

 so often occur throughout the winter months. Besides 

 the song of the male in the breeding season, we also hear 

 him utter a sharp call note something like that of the 

 Willow Warbler, only very much louder and not at all 

 plaintive. This note, as far as I can learn, is common 

 to the male alone, and only uttered in the pairing and 

 -breeding seasons. 



Throughout the cold and windy month of March, the 

 Chaffinch, though he frequents the hedgerows in plenty 

 during the day, is seen at nightfall in the shrubberies, 

 seeking the yew tree's shelter for repose. If the days 

 are cold and cheerless, we invariably find them in 

 amongst the evergreens, for I notice that with all birds 

 the colder and more ungenial the weather the more they 

 flock on low lying and sheltered lands, and seek in the 

 shelter of shrubberies a refuge from the elements. But 

 though the Chaffinch in winter prefers to frequent the 

 shrubberies, still in summer he loveth the fields the best, 

 and amongst the evergreen's verdant branches I but 

 seldom find his nest. 



Although the Chaffinch pairs early in March, we but 

 rarely find its nest fully completed before the second or 

 third week in April. The nest is as varied in its situa- 

 tion as its little owners are in their distribution. We 



