FEINGILLID.E. 89 



species has been occasionally met with in the British 

 Islands ; in some instances associated with Starlings, to the 

 habits of which birds its own are believed considerably to 

 correspond. In the south of Europe it is frequently met 

 with, and it is also known to frequent India and Africa. 

 Its eggs so closely resemble paler specimens of the Common 

 Starlings, that it is difficult to distinguish between them. 

 They are of the palest greenish or greyish blue, and without 

 markings. (PL Y. fig. 23.) 



EEINGILLULE. PINCHES. 



The Finches are the smallest birds of the present group, 

 and are distinguished by the shortness and strength of their 

 conical bills. They subsist generally on grain. The num- 

 ber of species in the present family is very great, and some 

 among them are everywhere diffused. Many of them pos- 

 sess considerable powers of song. Eew of the British Erin- 

 gillidse are migratory; but from northern latitudes, and 

 especially in severe winters, our flocks receive a great in- 

 crease of numbers. 



THE HAWFINCH. Coccothraustes vulgaris. The Haw- 

 finch was not known to breed in this country until H. 



