128 BULLFINCH. 



easily frightened away. The male is less so, but it is said 

 that if he be disturbed, the nest is almost always deserted, 

 which is not the case when the female is alarmed. William 

 Henry Budston Read, Esq., of Hayton and York, has recorded 

 in the 'Naturalist,' old series, that, when resident at Frickley 

 Hall, near Doncaster, a hen bird which built in a laurel near 

 the house suffered herself to be touched while sitting on her 

 young ones, and would feed from the hand without the least 

 fear. The birds are supposed to pair for life: the members 

 of the family keep together until the spring. 



Male; length, from six inches to six and a half these 

 birds varying considerably in size; bill, very short, thick, 

 and shining black; iris, dark brown; a few bristly feathers 

 surround the base of the bill; head and crown, deep glossy 

 blue black; neck on the back and nape, elegant bluish grey; 

 chin, black; throat and breast, a lovely red; back, delicate 

 bluish grey, on the lower part pure white. The wings 

 ordinarily expand to the width of nine inches and a little 

 over three quarters, but sometimes more than that: the third 

 quill is the longest, the second scarcely shorter, the fourth 

 longer than the first, which is about the same length as the 

 fifth: underneath, the wings are bluish grey; greater wing 

 coverts, black, their ends white, forming a conspicuous bar 

 across the wing; lesser wing coverts, delicate bluish grey; 

 primaries, brownish black; secondaries, brownish black, the 

 outer webs glossed with blue; some of them are occasionally 

 found tinged with red; tertiaries, brownish black, tinged also 

 with blue. The tail, glossy blue black, is of twelve feathers; 

 underneath, it is greyish black; upper tail coverts, glossy 

 blue black; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, purple 

 brown; claws, brown. 



Female; length, five inches and a little over three quarters; 

 iris, brown; head, not quite so deep a black as in the male; 

 on the sides it is dull light chocolate brown; chin, throat, 

 and breast, dull light chocolate brown, with more or less of 

 a tinge of purple or red; the back has the grey tinged with 

 brown, and the white on its lower part is less extensive. 

 Under tail coverts, less clear white than in the male; legs and 

 toes, dusky brown; claws, black. 



The young, when fledged, have the upper parts greyish 

 brown, without any black on the head, and the lower parts 

 yellowish brown: after the first moult, namely, in about two 

 months, their distinctive garb is assumed, but it is not till 



