246 THE MOUNTAIN FINCH. 



white ; the top of the neck and breast, as well as the lesser 

 wing coverts, orange ; the larger wing coverts black, tipped 

 with white. The pen feathers are dark brown, edged with 

 yellow ; the tail somewhat forked, and black. 



The colours of the female are less diversified. The black of 

 the male is exchanged in her for brown ; and the orange is 

 tinged with grey. Varieties are also found with a white head, 

 back, &c. 



Habitat. This bird is common throughout Europe, but in 

 the summer chiefly inhabits the extreme north. In spring, 

 autumn, and winter, it may be found in all the German forests, 

 and has been seen in immense flocks in Thuringia, in seasons 

 when beech mast was abundant. 



It may be either confined in a cage, or allowed to range the 

 room, according to its rarity, and the consequent estimation 

 in which it is held. 



Food. The reader is referred to the directions given in the 

 case of the Chaffinch. 



Mode of Taking. The call of the Mountain Finch is " Yac/c, 

 Yacky Qvadk ;" and as the two first syllables of this resemble 

 the call of the Chaffinch, the same decoys may be used for 

 both. Great numbers both of this bird and the Chaffinch may 

 often be caught in the barn-floor trap. In winter it may be 

 taken either with a net or under a sieve. 



Attractive Qualities. The song of the Mountain Pinch is 

 not agreeable ; consisting merely of a few chirping and twit- 

 tering notes like the recording of the Chaffinch occasionally 

 interrupted by a sonorous UaitcTi! If kept with Chaffinches 

 for several years, it learns portions of their song, but never 

 perfectly ; and, indeed, its chief use to the bird-fancier is as 

 a decoy. If kept on account of its beauty, and allowed to 

 associate with other birds, it must be very abundantly supplied 

 with food, as it is of a very quarrelsome disposition. It is 

 said, however, that it may be tamed with less difficulty than 

 the Chaffinch. 



ADDITIONAL. The Mountain Finch, or Brambling, as it is 

 more commonly called, visits this country in the winter season 

 only, and is then pretty generally distributed, extending as far 

 as the extreme southern counties of Dorset and Devonshire. 

 ME. CBOUCH includes it in his Cornish Fauna. THOMPSON re- 

 ports, that it occurs in various parts of Ireland; and of the 



