36 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



a band across the wing ; lower back and rump olive-green ; 

 centre tail-feathers ashy grey, the remainder black with a large 

 wedge-shaped mark of white on the last feather but one, this 

 white mark still more extended on the outer feather ; crown 

 and hind neck slaty blue ; forehead black ; under surface 

 pale vinous red; lower abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 white ; bill leaden blue ; feet brown ; iris hazel. Total length, 

 6 inches ; culmen, 0-45 ; wing, 3-5 ; tail, 2-5 ; tarsus, 0-65. 



Adult Female. Different from the male. Above ashy brown, 

 washed with olive-yellow ; under surface of body pale ashy 

 brown, lighter on the throat, and tinged with pink on the 

 throat and breast. Total length, 6-5 inches ; culmen 0-5 ; wing, 

 3*4; tail, 2*6; tarsus, 0*65. 



Young. Like the adult female, but more dingy ; rump and 

 upper tail-coverts olive-brown. 



Range in Great Britain. Breeding nearly everywhere, but a 

 winter visitor only to the Shetlands. A common winter migrant 

 on all our eastern shores. 



Range outside the British Islands. Generally distributed through- 

 out Europe, up to the line of the Arctic Circle, and extending to 

 62" N. lat. in the Ural Mountains. Its western breeding range 

 extends to about long. 70. 



Habits. The Chaffinch is a bird familiar to most people, and 

 is to be found in great abundance in most parts of the British 

 Islands, particularly in winter, when it associates with Sparrows 

 and Greenfinches in the stubbles and in the farmyards. Its 

 familiar note, " pink, pink," is heard everywhere in the spring, 

 and in some of our southern counties the Chaffinch is an ex- 

 tremely abundant species. It builds one of the most beautiful 

 nests of any British bird, and it is so well concealed by protec- 

 tive resemblance to its surroundings, that in the majority of 

 cases it would pass undiscovered but for the anxious notes of 

 the parent bird which lead to its discovery. Like most Finches, 

 the food consists of grain in winter, but in summer the birds 

 feed largely on insects. 



Nest. A pretty cup-shaped structure, placed in a bush or 

 branch of a tree, composed chiefly of moss with a few rootlets 

 and twigs, and clothed externally with cobwebs and lichens, so 



