100 HAWFINCH. 



visitant, the former in some parts of the country, the latter in 

 others. It arrives in these eases at the beginning of winter, 

 and is said to depart again in April. 



They seem to be extremely shy birds, but are capable of 

 being kept in the cage. In winter they are found less timid, 

 either subdued bv the effects of hunger and cold, or as arrived 

 from foreign parts where they have been less exposed to 

 danger from man. They generally perch upon the highest 

 branch of a tree, or upon some open bough, from whence they 

 are able to keep a good look-out. 



They feed on the seeds, fruits, and berries of various trees 

 the hornbeam, plum, plane, pine, cherry, laurel, holly, and 

 hawthorn, and do some damage among peas. With their strong 

 beaks they make their way through the hardest shells. 



Their song is described as low, pleasant, and plaintive, and 

 as being heard even in winter in fine weather. In confinement 

 they have been known to learn the notes of other birds, and 

 have been observed to make a grinding noise with their beaks, 

 as is done by some of the Parrots. 



They pair about the middle of April, and in a week or 

 two begin to build. 



I have been favoured by St. Aubin Moles worth St. Aubin, 

 Esq., with the nest and egg of this bird, which were taken 

 in the parish of Beenbam, in the county of Berks.: it is 

 entirely composed of lichens and fine roots. It is frequently 

 placed in a thorn bush, or holly tree, as also in oaks, the 

 horse chesnut, apple, and fir trees of the different species, at 

 a height of twenty-five or thirty feet from the ground, often 

 in a very exposed situation. It is variously made of small 

 twigs, such as those of the oak and honeysuckle, intermixed 

 with fragments of lichens, in greater or less abundance. The 

 lining consists of fine, roots, vegetable fibres, and a little hair, 

 with feathers, according to Montagu. It is not firmly com- 

 pacted, towards which effect perhaps the principal material 

 contributes. 



The eggs are from four to six in number, of a pale olive 

 green, spotted with blackish brown, and irregularly streaked 

 with dusky grey; some are much less marked than others, and 

 some are of a uniform pale green. 



The young are hatched about the third week in May, and 

 as soon as they are able to provide for themselves, says Mr. 

 Doubleday, they unite with the old birds in flocks, varying 

 in numbers from fifteen or twentv to one hundred or even 



