150 



THE NATURE BOOK 



Greenfinch and Chaffinch, besides House 

 and Tree Sparrow. Pheasants frequently 

 nested at the base of its walls, ancl, 

 doubtless, had not the local race of Stock 

 Doves been accustomed to make use of 

 the sand-hill rabbit burrows, they, too, 

 would have resorted to the ivy-mantled 

 tower for nesting. 



The chief characteristic of the Green- 

 finch is its greenish yellow body colour, 

 which passes in 

 the male into 

 bright yellow 

 on the margins 

 of its flight 

 feathers and at 

 the base of the 

 tail ; both of 

 these points are 

 shown off whilst 

 the bird is 

 either flying or 

 courting. The 

 mono t onous 

 song, if such it 

 can be called, 

 is equally dis- 

 tinctive, as is 

 also the oft- 

 uttered c a 1 1 - 

 note — " maree 

 — maree." The 

 Greenfinch i s 

 one of the com- 

 monest birds of 

 garden shrub- 

 beries, and al- 

 most as des- 

 tructive to 

 vegetating garden seeds — especiall^^ those 

 of the cabbage tribe — as the Chaffinch. 



The Hawfinch — another bird that has 

 so extended its range within the past 

 twenty years that it is, though still some- 

 what local, no longer to be looked ujxjn as 

 one of our rarer birds — is somewhat 

 Bunting-like in shape ; its very heavy 

 beak, short neck and tail, give it a very 

 lumpy appearance. It haunts the out- 

 skirts of woods (neither birds nor insects 

 seem j)artial to the central parts of large 

 woods) and shrubberies, and althougli 

 its beak is well adapted for cracking 

 hard-stoned fruit, it is very partial to 

 garden peas. Though a naturally shy 

 bird, it is very difficult to scare away 



LINNET'S NEST. 



when once it has begun upon a well- 

 podded row ; it takes itself off upon the 

 slightest alarm only to return as soon as 

 danger — in the shape of the gardener — 

 disap])ears. Jays and House Sparrows 

 also sometimes play havoc with this 

 toothsome esculent. The latter bird's 

 presence amongst the pea-sticks may, 

 however, be occasionally excused, because 

 it preys upon both Weevils and Pea 



M o t h — t h e 

 prime cause of 

 maggoty peas ! 

 No such excuse, 

 however, can 

 be made for 

 the Hawfinch, 

 whose chief re- 

 commendation 

 lies in the sober 

 quaintness o f 

 his appearance, 

 and the delicate 

 fawn - coloured 

 body plumage, 

 which on the 

 under parts is 

 tinged with a 

 faint suspicion 

 of lilac. He has 

 a black bib, and 

 a black line en- 

 circles his lead- 

 coloured beak 

 and eye, the 

 iris of which is 

 greyish white. 

 Another pecu- 

 harity is that 

 the fifth to the ninth blue-black flight 

 feathers are re-cun^ed like the point of 

 a bill-hook. The short, black tail fades 

 to grey at the tip. In autumn the 

 Hawfinch is as fond of the seed of the 

 crimson-pulped yew berries as are the 

 Thrush faniil\- of the jnilp itself. 



The Goldfinch, beloved of cage-bird 

 fanciers, has greatly decreased in numbers 

 of later j^ears. It is particularly a bird 

 of the old-fashioned orchards, and delights 

 in lichen-infested apple trees for nest- 

 ing i)urposes, and in derelict thistle- 

 covered land as a winter feeding resort. 

 Where the knai)weeds abound, too. Gold- 

 finches may also be looked for, as the seed 

 of these plants, especially of Ccntaurca 



