52 



THE NATURE BOOK 



MALE BULLFINCH AND YOUNG. 



followed by his guilty comrades in single 

 iile ; but they will only retire about a 

 stone's throw ere settling down to await 

 the departure of their enemy. Should 

 they be pursued still further, the same 

 tactics will be repeated with dipping 

 flight, until thcv either double back, 

 or, having gained the boundary fence, 

 will challenge the pursuer to a game 

 of hide and seek upon 

 the further side. So 

 invariably do they re- 

 sort to such methods 

 of retreat that it is 

 quite a distinctive 

 mark of the species, 

 but if their whispered 

 pipe-call be not heard 

 meanwhile, the c o n- 

 spicuous w h i t e back 

 is sure to attract at- 

 tention as Bully Acl'S 

 away. For nesting 

 purposes a thick 

 thorn fence is usually 

 selected, especially one 

 draped with depend- 

 ing brambles ; the 

 nest itself being 

 somewhat like that 

 of the Greenfinch, 

 Vjut with a stronger 



surrounding and more decided plat- 

 form of small dead sticks and roots 

 supporting it. The eggs, too, are of 

 the Greenfinch t^'pe, but not quite 

 so elongated, and the darker mark- 

 ings, upon a bluer ground, are more 

 nearly confined to a zone at the 

 larger end. 



It seems a ]iity to pass over the 

 adroit Crossbill, which, however, 

 is doubtfully cosmopolitan enough 

 to deserxe mention in a list of 

 the commoner British birds. Its 

 singularly distorted beak is a 

 very beautiful example of adapted 

 structure, and the birds them- 

 selves are so tame that if one 

 does happen to come across a 

 little flock feasting in winter upon 

 larch or Scotch fir cones, their 

 unique method of utilising the half- 

 opened beak as a double lever for 

 prising open the cone valves, in 

 order to secure the resinous seeds, may 

 easily be watched by a patient observer. 

 Of strong build, and with short neck and 

 tail, and powerful feet, they are in shape 

 somewhat like a small Hawfinch, though 

 their antics and plumage — dull green, 

 variegated according to age and sex, 

 with orange and red — are more Parrot- 

 like. 



Maurice C. H. Bird. 



BULLFINCH ON NEST. 



