52 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the inner web next the shaft. This form has been named P. kamtschatica 

 by Taczanowsky. In the intervening localities intermediate forms occur ; 

 examples from Asia Minor are intermediate in the colour of the back, but 

 are darker than examples from Krasnoyarsk. One example from Kamts- 

 chatka has the white on the outside tail-feathers, and an example from 

 the Ussuri river, though it has the white on the outside tail-feathers, 

 has also the red on the innermost secondary. These intermediate forms 

 are known by the name of P. major ; but there can be no doubt that 

 neither of these two eastern forms are specifically distinct from the Common 

 Bullfinch ; and if we accept the western form as the typical one, the Pyr- 

 rhula vulgaris of Temminck (the Pyrrhula pyrrhula of Brisson), the 

 eastern form must bear the name of P. vulgaris, var. major. Examples of 

 the latter form occasionally occur in winter in Eastern Germany, and the 

 Bullfinches found in Greece and Asia Minor also belong to this variety. 

 The Bullfinch has several allies in the Himalayas, East Siberia, China, and 

 Japan, but none of them have the black head combined with the red breast 

 as in the males of our bird. 



The Bullfinch is one of our most retiring birds, especially in summer, 

 and seeks at this season the seclusion of the woods and dense shrubberies 

 to rear its young. In autumn and winter its range is considerably wider, 

 and it may then be seen in fields and gardens, in small plantations where 

 the undergrowth is dense, and in matted hedgerows where tall herbaceous 

 plants and brambles struggle through and hang over whitethorn and hazel 

 bushes. In winter, especially just before spring, the Bullfinch is very 

 commonly seen in large gardens and orchards. It very rarely visits the 

 wilder portions of the country, and where there are no trees there will be 

 no Bullfinches. 



The habits of the Bullfinch are so quiet and retiring that it is only when 

 the leaves are off the trees that we have much opportunity of studying 

 them. It is not by any means a gregarious bird, nor does it usually evince 

 any partiality for the company of other birds, as is the case with so many 

 Finches, and generally it is only accompanied by its mate. In late autumn, 

 however, Bullfinches are sometimes seen in little parties composed of the 

 young of the year and their parents. In winter it is by no means a shy 

 bird, and will allow the observer to approach it quite closely and watch its 

 restless actions as it skips from twig to twig searching for berries and 

 seeds. The Bullfinch is rarely seen on the ground in this country ; but 

 in the forests of Siberia it is glad enough to make friends with the 

 Snow-Buntings, Mealy Redpoles, and Siberian Jays, and feed on the 

 droppings of the horses on the snow. The call-note of the Bullfinch to 

 his mate is a full, rich, but low piping whistle, very monotonous and 

 plaintive, and sounds like dyu, dyu ; and his song, which is usually uttered 

 in so low a tone as to be scarcely audible at a distance, as if he were 



