BULLFINCH. 127 



den of the 'Dragon of Wantley,' 'you could not choose but 

 spy it.' 



These birds are easily kept in confinement, and have been 

 known to pair with the Canary. They are very fond of 

 washing themselves. 



The flight of the Bullfinch is quick and undulated, and 

 capable of being protracted on occasion. It does not fly far 

 when disturbed by your approach, but quickly re-enters the 

 hedge, or the side of wood, along which it flitted before you. 



Its food consists of the seeds and leaves of groundsel, 

 chickweed, and other weeds, hips and haws, berries and fruits, 

 such as the cherry and plum, the buds, especially the blossom 

 buds, of various trees, such as the plum, the apple, the medlar, 

 the cherry, the gooseberry, and others; and if I may venture 

 upon a conjecture, its name is derived from this circumstance, 

 Bullfinch, if so, being a corruption of Budfinch, the word 

 bud being pronounced in the vulgate of the north of Eng- 

 land, as if spelled 'bood.' Small stones are also swallowed to 

 aid digestion. 



The common note is a short, plaintive, and sweet pipe, 

 which at once arrests the attention: it is accompanied by 

 a flirtation of the tail: probably its vernacular names 

 Nope, Hoop, and Pope, are derived from its resemblance to 

 those sounds. In spring the song is a low and desultory 

 warble, and the male bird frequently serenades his mate for 

 hours together, while she is sitting on the nest, puffing out 

 his feathers, and moving his head awry. The Bullfinch is 

 taught to whistle tunes, and, I believe, to articulate words. 



Towards the end of April, the birds pair, and nidification 

 is commenced in the beginning of May, and is finished by 

 the end of that month, or the beginning of June. 



The nest is formed of small twigs, and is lined with small 

 roots, the whole being not firmly compacted : in some 

 instances moss is added. It is generally placed either in a 

 tree, such as a fir, or in the middle of a bush, frequently a 

 hawthorn, at a height of four or five feet from the ground. 

 It is often built in a shrubbery, even near a house, and 

 occasionally, though but seldom, in a garden. 



The eggs, four or five in number, are pale blue, speckled 

 and streaked with purple grey, and dark purple. They are 

 hatched towards the end of May, after an incubation of 

 fifteen days. The male takes his turn in sitting with the 

 female. The latter sits very closely, though she is in general 



