THE CHAFFINCH. 283 



But though the full-grown birds delight chiefly in 

 a vegetable diet, it must not be forgotten that the 

 young are fed almost wholly upon insects ; and as 

 the chaffinches have large and hungry broods, 

 these birds are very valuable in gathering them 

 from the trees and bushes. Selby remarks of the 

 chaffinch, that in summer it feeds most upon in- 

 sects and larvae, and that he has witnessed its 

 assiduity during the autumn, in devouring the 

 females of a large species of aphis, which infests 

 the trunks and stronger branches of the larch, and 

 some other kinds of fir. A writer in Loudon's 

 Magazine confirms this statement. " In the early 

 part of last summer," he says, " our attention was 

 attracted by a chaffinch, which, as we sat in our 

 room, we observed to pay repeated visits to a 

 broom bush, immediately in front of our window. 

 The bird remained a considerable time in the bush 

 at each visit, and appeared exceedingly busy about 

 something, hopping from spray to spray. We sus- 

 pected that the object of plunder was the soft young 

 seeds of the broom, which, at that time, was much 

 in the same state as peas are in when fit to gather. 

 Upon examination, however, we found every part 

 whole and untouched ; but the bush was covered 



