THE BULL-FINCH DESTRUCTIVE TO GARDENS. 155 



us ; it communicates no harmony to the grove : 

 all we hear from it is a low and plaintive call to its 

 fellows in the hedge. It has no familiarity or 

 association with us, but lives in retirement in some 

 lonely thicket ten months in the year. At length, 

 as spring approaches, it will visit our gardens, an 

 insidious plunderer. Its delight is in the embryo 

 blossoms wrapped up at this season in the bud of a 

 tree ; and it is very dainty and curious in its choice 

 of this food, seldom feeding upon two kinds at 

 the same time. It generally commences with the 

 germs of our larger and most early gooseberry ; 

 and the bright red breasts of four or five cock 

 birds, quietly feeding on the leafless bush, are a 

 very pretty sight, but the consequences are ruinous 

 to the crop. When the cherry buds begin to come 

 forward, they quit the gooseberry, and make tre- 

 mendous havoc with these. I have an early wall 

 cherry, a mayduke by reputation, that has for 

 years been a great favourite with the bull-finch 

 family, and its celebrity seems to be communicated 

 to each successive generation. It buds profusely, 

 but is annually so stripped of its promise by these 

 feathered rogues, that its kind might almost be 

 doubted. The Orleans and green-gage plums next 

 form a treat, and draw their attention from what 

 remains of the cherry. Having banqueted here 

 awhile, they leave our gardens entirely, resorting 

 to the fields and hedges, where the sloe bush in 

 April furnishes them with food. May brings other 



