FINCHES. 389 



buildings, or, where there are no buildings, in rocks which do not hold the snow, 

 the former not only affording them a dry nesting-place, but one which also protects 

 the nest from the storms of snow and sleet, which have by no means ceased to fall 

 by the end of May. A nest obtained on the Furka is principally made of dry 

 grass-stalks, intermingled with which are tufts of hair, wool, leaves, shavings of 

 wood, and a few feathers. The inside walls are lined with ptarmigan's feathers, 

 both white and brown, these being woven together very compactly with horsehair, 

 and in a nest before me also with strands of green worsted. The bottom of the 

 nest is not lined with feathers. The outside diameter, which is nearly round, is 

 8\ inches; the inside diameter 3i inches; thus the inside cup is small in proportion. 

 The eggs are pure white, and from three to live in number." Mr. Wilson adds that 

 the snow-finches in winter descend from the Alpine regions to the lower valleys. 

 The snow-finch is a beautiful bird, rather Larger than the greenfinch or sparrow, 

 with long wings, in which the primary quill-feathers are much longer than the rest, 

 as in some other birds of airy and graceful flight. The strong contrast of jet-black 

 and purest white in the plumage, notably in the tail, which has two black feathers 

 in the middle, while the rest are as white as snow, makes the bird conspicuous at a 

 long distance, and a more striking object than the browner snow-bunting, which 

 occasionally strays from the north to the Alps. There are few more beautiful 

 sights than the wheelings and whirlings of a flock of snow-finches, with their white 

 feathers glistening in the sun one moment, while the next their black ones will 

 show clear against the snow. The adult snow-finch has the upper-parts brown, 

 with light edgings to the feathers; the hind-neck and sides of the neck are ashy 

 grey; the wings and tail are black and white, some of the feathers being edged 

 with brown; while the lower-parts are white throughout. 



This group has been found to contain the palest forms of the 



Dcscrt-Finclics © 1 *■ 



rose-finches, the only two species known being inhabitants of desert 

 countries. The bill is short and much arched, with both mandibles much curved. 

 The wings are very long, reaching within a third of an inch of the end of the tail, 

 when closed, and the metatarsus is comparatively long. The plumage of both 

 sexes is grey or brown, suffused with pink. The common desert-finch (Erythro- 

 spiza githaginea), the western representative of the genus, is found in the Canaries, 

 the Sahara, and Egypt, extending eastwards through Afghanistan and Baluchistan 

 to the Punjab, while the Mongolian desert-finch (E. mongolica) inhabits the deserts 

 of Central Asia, extending its range eastwards into Western China. 



The common desert- finch is an inhabitant of the most sterile regions. Its habits 

 in the Canaries have been described by Dr. Bolle, who writes that " it is always 

 found in sociable little groups, when the cares of the breeding-season do not keep 

 it solitary. The cheerful little bird dances from stone to stone, or glides about 

 near the ground ; but seldom can our sight follow it far into the landscape, for the 

 reddish grey feathers of the old bird mix closely with the colours of the stones 

 and leafless stems and twigs of euphorbia, as the buff of the young does with the 

 pale yellow of the sand or chalk. We should lose it if its voice, which is one of 

 its most striking peculiarities, did not guide us to it. Listen ! A note like that of 

 a small trumpet trembles through the air and vibrates continuously ; and if we are 

 very attentive, we shall hear, just before and just after it, two gentle, light notes, 



