192 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



The food of the Hawfinch consists principally of 

 the kernels of the stones of various sorts of fruit, 

 both wild and cultivated, amongst which may he 

 enumerated the stones of damsons, plums, sloes and 

 laurel-berries. According to Mr. Doubleday it 

 commits considerable depredations in the garden, 

 especially amongst young peas : * it is not, however, 

 sufficiently common in this county at any time 

 certainly not in green-pea time to cause much 

 uneasiness in the minds of our gardeners. 



In confinement this bird grows very tame, al- 

 though if caught after it has come to maturity it is 

 occasionally, like some other birds, rather sulky 

 at first : this, however, is easily got over, and, as it 

 will eat any sort of grain or seed, it is very easily 

 kept. 



The nest is placed in various positions, in trees 

 or shrubs, amongst which may be mentioned the 

 whitethorn, the oak, the holly, the fir and the apple- 

 tree ; it seems to be rather a rough structure of 

 twigs, roots and moss lined with fine roots : in one 

 instance, mentioned by Yarrell, the whole of the 

 lining was of gardener's bass. 



The Hawfinch is a fine handsome bird, consider- 

 ably larger than the last-mentioned species. The 



* See paper, in the ' Magazine of Zoology,' by Mr. 

 Henry Doubleday, who also adds that its favourite food is 

 the seed of the hornbeam. 



