THE CHAFFINCH 



great extent of discarded wax vestas and bits of thread 

 and silk, the sides garnished with paper from cigarette- 

 ends. Nearly a fortnight is occupied in its construction. 

 The five or six eggs are pale bluish green in ground colour, 

 spotted, speckled, and occasionally streaked with dark 

 purplish brown, suffused with paler brown, many of 

 the dark round spots being surrounded by paler washes. 

 The parents become very noisy and demonstrative when 

 disturbed at the nest. After the breeding season Chaf- 

 finches flock, and often associate with Greenfinches, 

 Sparrows, and other seed-eating species, then frequenting 

 stubbles, ricks, farmyards, and even the roads. 



The male Chaffinch is a very handsome bird, some of 

 the upper parts being slate-grey, merging into black on 

 the forehead, chestnut on the mantle, and green on the 

 rump ; the wings are dark brown margined with yellow, 

 the coverts black and white, showing out very boldly as a 

 bar during flight ; the tail is brownish black, the central 

 feathers grey, the two outermost having a wedge-shaped 

 mark of white. The under parts are pale chestnut, with 

 a pronounced pinkish flush on the breast and abdomen, 

 and shading into white on the vent and under tail-coverts. 

 Bill black ; tarsi and toes black ; irides brown. Length 

 7 inches. The female has the same patterns of colour as 

 the male, but her plumage is not so brilliant, and the head 

 is nearly uniform with the back ; the under surface is 

 rufous brown, and shows no vinaceous tint. In the nest- 

 ling the wings and tail are similar to those of the adult, 

 but the small body-feathers are greyish brown, with 

 obscure dark centres, except to those on the abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts. 



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