66 MOUNTAIN FINCH. 



such place is the only one in which they should be confined. 

 The nest having been completed four days, the first egg was 

 laid on the 16th. of June in the just-named year, and another 

 was laid each day until the 21st., when they were removed. 

 The nest was composed of moss, wool, and dry grass, and 

 lined with hair; and these materials were selected from a 

 variety which the birds had the option of making use of. 

 The foundations, which were large, were worked in among 

 the stalks of the ivy leaves. 



'In the latter part of July, in the same year,' says Mr. 

 Dashwood, writing to Mr. Hewitson, 'another pair of 

 Bramblings built, placing their nest on the ground, close to 

 a shrub or a tuft of grass. The outside of the nest was made 

 of moss, and it was lined with hair. From this nest I 

 removed four eggs on the 1st. of August. On the 17th. of 

 June, 1840, they laid again, having built in the ivy. This 

 nest I did not disturb, and although the eggs were hatched, 

 they did not succeed in rearing the young ones.' 



In the 'Account of the Birds found in Norfolk,' presently 

 to be again referred to regarding our present subject, the 

 authors mention the following instance, or rather instances, 

 of these birds nesting in confinement, communicated to them 

 by a gentleman residing near Norwich. A pair of Bramblings 

 built a nest in an aviary in the last week of the month of 

 June, 1842, and two eggs were laid, both of which were 

 removed, and found to be good. In June, 1843, the same 

 birds again nested, and the female laid two eggs, and these 

 having been removed, they formed a second nest in a different 

 spot, in which four eggs were deposited. The last nest, 

 together with the eggs, was accidentally destroyed, and it 

 was not ascertained whether the eggs laid during the year 

 were good or not. 



The eggs are four or five in number, white, spotted with 

 yellowish brown. 



Male; length, six inches and a quarter, to six and three 

 quarters; the upper bill is dusky, the point bluish black; 

 the under bill, dusky yellowish white, with the point bluish 

 black: in the spring and summer it is extremely dark lead- 

 (joloured. Iris brown. Head on the crown and sides, neck 

 on the back, and nape, in the winter, rich mottled grey and 

 black, each feather being black at the base, and grey at the 

 tip: in the spring these brown tips disappear, leaving the 

 white of these parts of a fine velvet black, which the bird 



