FEINGILLID2E . 181 



however, seen it since, in the very fine collection of 

 Mr. Bjne, at Bishop's Hull, and compared it with 

 the description of the Serin Finch given by Mr. 

 Newman, in his edition of Montagu's Dictionary, 

 with which it agrees so nearly that I do not think 

 it would be right to omit all notice of the capture, 

 though it is still possible it may be an escaped 

 prisoner. 



The Serin Finch is an inhabitant of the South of 

 Europe:* it is very common in the South of 

 France, and a few instances of its capture in 

 Britain are recorded in the * Zoologist/ although it 

 had escaped the notice of Yarrell and other writers 

 on British Ornithology. 



The food of the Serin Finch consists of seeds, 

 mostly those of weeds, such as groundsel, plantain 

 and chickweed. The nest is said to be placed in 

 fruit-trees, beeches and oaks.t 



The specimen in Mr. Byne's collection is as 

 near as I could measure through the glass of the 

 case four inches and a half in length. The beak 

 is shorter and not so pointed as that of the Siskin, 

 of a darkish horn colour. The plumage is as 



* This would rather favour the supposition that Mr. 

 Byne's bird was an escaped prisoner, as unlike most of 

 our other Finch visitors this bird coming from the South 

 would probably be a summer rather than a winter visitor. 



I Montagu's Dictionary, by Newman, 



