174 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



a grain- and seed-eating bird, it of course does both 

 good and harm to the gardener and the farmer, and 

 we must therefore try to find out in which it exceeds. 

 As it is one of M. Prevost's birds I will begin with 

 his somewhat long and varied list of food : " Janu- 

 ary, seeds, berries and kernels of fruits : February, 

 the same and corn ; March, the same and insects ; 

 April, moths, flies and insects of various kinds ; May, 

 cockchaffers, grubs and eggs of insects : June, the 

 same and wild fruits ; July, the same and grubs of 

 beetles : August, moths and butterflies ; September, 

 eggs of insects, worms and seeds ; October, wood- 

 boring beetles, seeds and insects ; November, seeds ; 

 December, seeds and buds." In this list the good 

 done seems to more than counterbalance the harm, 

 but this list scarcely completes the case either for or 

 against the Chaffinch. Throughout the autumn and 

 winter it flocks in the stubble-fields, gleaning the 

 corn which is left about : it also frequents rick-yards 

 and ricks made in the fields, where, like the Bunting, 

 it pulls out what corn it can, thereby doing consider- 

 able damage to badly-built ricks ; but, as with those 

 birds, the greatest damage it does to the farmer is in 

 eating the corn round the hedges before it is fit to 

 cut, and in picking up the newly-sown corn and 

 other seeds, such as clover, vetches, &c., before they 

 come up : beyond this I do not know that it can be 

 accused of doing any damage to the farmer. While 

 on the subject of the food of the Chaffinch, I will 



