280 SERINUS 



SERINUS, Koch, 1816. 



412. SERIN FINCH. 

 SERINUS HORTULANUS. 



Serinus Jwrtulanus, Koch, Baier. Zool. p. 229 (1876) ; Gould, B. of Gt. 

 Brit. iii. pi. 38 ; Dresser, iii. p. 549, pi. 172 ; Saunders, p. 177 ; 

 Friny. serinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 320 ; Naum. v. p. 114, pi. 123 ; 

 (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 368 ; Lilford, iv. p. 52, pi. 25. 



Serin, French ; Milheira, Portug. ; Verdecillo, Span. ; Vemel- 

 lino, Ital. ; Grirlitz, German ; &dirisk, Dan. 



ad. (Germany). Forehead, supercilium, throat, and breast bright 

 yellow ; hind-crown, nape, and sides of head blackish grey margined with 

 yellow ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts brown, slightly margined with 

 yellow and with blackish central stripes ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 yellow ; quills and tail blackish brown narrowly margined with yellow ; 

 under parts yellow, the lower abdomen and under tail-coverts faint 

 yellowish white ; sides of breast and flanks striped with blackish brown ; 

 bill dark horn, paler at the base below ; legs brownish flesh ; iris dark 

 brown. Culmen 0*32, wing 2 '8, tail 2'05, tarsus 0'6 inch. In the winter 

 the yellow on the head is obscured by greyish brown tips to the feathers, 

 the back is less yellow and the quills have broader buffy yellowish white 

 margins. The female has less yellow in the plumage ; the crown, sides of 

 head and nape are like the back ; rump yellow marked with blackish 

 brown, the margins to the quills and tips of the wing-coverts are buffy 

 white ; under parts dull white, throat and breast washed with yellow, 

 and together with the flanks striped with blackish brown. 



Hob. Central and southern Europe, of rare occurrence in 

 Great Britain, Denmark, and Heligoland ; wintering, and to 

 some extent resident in north Africa; Palestine, and Asia 

 Minor. 



Unlike the Citril Finch, the Serin inhabits the foot of the 

 mountains skirting the plains, orchards, vineyards, and gardens, 

 and though tolerably tame in the town-gardens, it is shy 

 outside in the country. Its flight is very swift not unlike that 

 of Cotile riparia ; its call-note resembles that of the Canary bird, 

 but its song is clear and pleasing though not of a high order. It 

 feeds chiefly on seeds, especially those of an oily nature. The 

 nest is neat, compact, cup-shaped, constructed of fine roots and 

 grass-bents, lined with plant-down, feathers, and hair, and is 

 placed on a bush or tree, most frequently a fruit-tree. The 



