142 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



season. This is only one of many cases in which 

 we have remarked the comparative scarcity of 

 species that are exceptionally common farther 

 north and east The great wave of east to west 

 migration sends only its exhausted ripples so far 

 to the south-west. The nest of the Chaffinch is 

 very frequently made in the hedges ; but after an 

 examination of many scores of nests, we come to 

 the opinion that they are not so exquisitely made 

 or so lavisnly garnished as riests made in the 

 North of England. With the nest of the Long- 

 tailed Tit this, curiously enough, is exactly the 

 reverse, some of the most beautiful we ever saw 

 being made by Devonshire birds. The Greenfinch 

 is also partial to the hedgerows, and is specially 

 fond of nesting in them. We have a record of no 

 less than four nests of this species in one hedge, 

 all within a dozen yards. These birds are very 

 partial to the seeds 'of the sunflower, and their 

 actions when engaged in obtaining them are very 

 pretty. It is said that flocks of Greenfinches visit 

 the county during winter, but we have not re- 

 marked the fact in the extreme south. Another, 

 but a much rarer and more local bird of the 

 hedgerows, is the Bullfinch. Shy and skulking, 



