THE HAWFINCH. 193 



Mode of Taking. These birds eagerly follow the lure, and 

 are therefore in autumn easily caught in the barn-floor trap, 

 if baited with hemp seed, juniper and service berries. In winter 

 service berries will entice them into the snare, and they may 

 be caught on the nest with limed twigs. They eat as soon as 

 taken, if hemp and rape-seed be offered them. 



Attractive Qualities. These are not very numerous. I 

 myself have no liking for the birds, and am especially averse 

 to their unpleasant call, " Itz ! tziss /" which never ceases. 

 Their song consists of a low whistle, with occasional clear 

 piercing notes, " Irrr /" For some bird-fanciers this may be 

 enough ; yet to most their great tameness will be their chief 

 recommendation. 



ADDITIONAL. This is the Hawfinch of most British natural- 

 ists ; it is the largest bird of the genus that appears in these 

 islands, in the southern parts only of which has it hitherto been 

 observed : it has been sometimes described as a winter migrant, 

 but MUDIE and MACGILLIVBAY agree in making it a permanent 

 resident with us, the eggs and young having been found, they 

 say, repeatedly in the vicinity of Epping Forest. Mr. H. DOU- 

 BLED AY, who appears to have paid great attention to the habits 

 of these birds, writes thus, in the Magazine of Zoology and Bo- 

 tany, vol. i.: " Their extreme shyness has, no doubt, contributed 

 to keep us in ignorance of their habits and economy ; in this 

 trait they exceed any land bird with which I am acquainted, and 

 in open places it is almost impossible to approach them within 

 gun-shot." Their principal food here appears to be the seed of 

 the hornbeam (carpinus betulus), which is the prevailing species 

 of tree in Epping Forest ; they also feed on the kernels of the 

 haws, plum stones, laurel berries, &c. ; and in summer make 

 great havoc amongst green peas in gardens in the vicinity of the 

 forest. 



" About the middle of April they pair, and in a week or two 

 commence nidification. The situation of the nest is various ; 

 but is most commonly placed in an old scrubby whitethorn 

 bush, often in a very exposed situation ; they also frequently 

 build in the horizontal arms of large oaks, the heads of pollard 

 hornbeams, in hollies, and occasionally in fir trees in plantations ; 

 the elevation at which the nest is placed, varying from five to 

 twenty-five or thirty feet. The most correct description of the 

 nest which I have seen, is in LATHAM'S Synopsis. 



" I believe the male has no song worth notice ; in warm days in 

 March, I have heard them, when a number have been sitting to- 



