GEOSSBEAK. 131 



occurred at Hulston, in Lancashire, and Harrow-on-the-Hill, 

 in Middlesex. 



In Scotland they were observed by Pennant in the forests 

 of Invercauld, in Aberdeenshire, the seat of Farquharson, on 

 the 5th. of August. 



In Ireland one is reported by the late William Thompson, 

 Esq., of Belfast, to have been shot at Cavehill, near that 

 town in December, 1819. 



These birds are of a gentle and unsuspecting nature, and 

 are easily caught, and as easily kept in confinement. They 

 go in small flocks of seven or eight the family party. They 

 are fond of bathing themselves. They move both on the 

 ground and on the branches of trees by short leaps. 



Their flight, says Audubon, is undulating and smooth, 

 performed in a direct line when they are migrating, at a 

 considerable height. 



Their food consists of seeds, buds, and berries, and occa- 

 sionally insects; they also pick up gravel, the prescription of 

 Nature, their all-wise physician. 



The note is spoken of as agreeable, and as being sometimes 

 heard at night. 



The nest is made of small sticks, and is lined with feathers. 

 It is usually placed on the branch of a tree, only a few feet 

 above the ground. 



The eggs are said to be four or five in number, and white. 

 The young are described as being hatched in June. 



Male; length, eight inches and a half; bill, dusky, the lower 

 one tinged with red, and the base paler; iris, hazel, surrounded 

 with a narrow band of dusky black, which passes over the 

 base of the upper bill; strong blackish brown bristly feathers 

 directed forwards surround the base of the upper bill. Head, 

 crown, neck on the back, and nape, bright red; chin, throat, 

 and breast, red, but the feathers are greyish black at their 

 base, lower down the breast is grey; back, brownish grey, 

 the feathers edged with red. 



The wings have the third quill feather the longest, the 

 second nearly as long, the first a trifle shorter than the 

 fourth, and both shorter than the second, the fifth a quarter 

 of an inch shorter than the fourth, the second, third, fourth, 

 and fifth have their outer webs slightly cut out; underneath, 

 they are slate-coloured. Greater wing coverts, greyish black 

 tipped with white; lesser wing coverts, greyish black partially 

 tipped with white and edged with red, forming two bands 



