60 BRITISH BIRDS. 



to six in number, and are usually laid about the second week in May, 

 sometimes earlier. There are two very distinct types. The usual type 

 is pale olive or bluish green in ground-colour, streaked with dark olive- 

 brown, and having a few spots of the same colour on the surface, and with 

 underlying markings of greyish brown. The second type differs only in 

 having the ground-colour buff and the underlying spots more inclined 

 to violet-grey. The eggs of the Hawfinch do not resemble those of any 

 other British Finch, their peculiar streaky markings distinguishing them 

 at a glance. They are usually quite as much streaked as Buntings' eggs, 

 and most nearly resemble in colour those of the Reed-Bunting ; but the 

 rich purplish-brown markings, and much smaller size prevent any confusion 

 between them. Some eggs of the Hawfinch are not so streaked, and the 

 markings are few and very distinct ; but even on this variety a few hair- 

 like lines occur. Two very remarkable eggs from Pomerania, in my 

 collection, have the ground-colour pale bluish green, and the markings 

 are confined to one clouded mass of pale brown, over which runs a broad 

 and irregular darker streak. They vary in length from TO to '85 inch, 

 and in breadth from '8 to '67 inch. 



The Hawfinch throughout the breeding-season is very shy and retiring, 

 and when its nest is approached, should it only contain eggs, the bird will 

 glide rapidly away into the cover ; but sometimes when the young are 

 hatched it will fly round the head of the intruder uttering anxious cries. 

 The Hawfinch probably only rears one brood in the year ; but if its first 

 clutch of eggs be taken others will be laid ; and this circumstance probably 

 accounts for the late broods sometimes met with. The young are fed 

 largely on caterpillars ; and in summer insects form no small portion of 

 the bird's diet ; but its principal food is seeds of various kinds, as its 

 stout strong bill abundantly proves. It is very fond of the seeds of 

 the hornbeam, beech-nuts, the' berries of the hawthorn, and cherry- 

 stones, which it cracks with ease. It feeds on various soft fruits, 

 especially on peas and the berries of the yew. 



The Hawfinch is not an elegant-looking bird, nevertheless it is a very 

 handsome one. The feathers at the base of the bill, the lores, and the 

 throat are black; the rest of the head is reddish brown, palest on the ear- 

 coverts and forehead ; the nape is ashy grey ; the back and the scapulars 

 are dark chestnut-brown, becoming paler on the rump, and shading into 

 vellowish brown on the upper tail-coverts ; the median wing-coverts are 

 white, the rest black ; the wings are black, with blue and purple reflections, 

 the outermost primaries having a white spot near the middle of the inner 

 web ; the remainder of the quills have most of the inner web greyish white ; 

 the sixth and four succeeding primaries are truncate, the inner edge of the 

 tips rounded like a billhook ; the tail is black, the four outer feathers on 

 each side having a large terminal white spot on the inner web, the four 



