FRINGILLA 307 



Pinson ordinaire, French ; Tentilhao, Portug. ; Pinzon, Span. ; 

 Fringuello, Ital. ; Buchjinlc, German ; Virile, Dutch ; Bogjinke, 

 Dan. and Norweg. ; Bojink, Swed. ; Peipponen, Finn.; Ziablik, 

 Russ. 



ad. (England). Forehead black ; crown, nape, and sides of the neck 

 rich slaty blue ; back dull chestnut-red ; rump yellowish green ; quills 

 dull dark brown, externally margined with greenish white, the inner 

 secondaries margined with fulvous, the median coverts almost pure white, 

 the lesser and scapulars plumbeous ; middle tail-feathers blackish grey, 

 indistinctly edged with white, the rest black, with broad white patches on 

 the two outer ones ; cheeks, throat, and under parts rich reddish brown, 

 paler on the lower abdomen ; bill bluish plumbeous ; legs dull brown ; 

 iris hazel. Culmen 0*55, wing 3'45, tail 3'0, tarsus 0*75 inch. In the 

 winter the colours are duller, the feathers on the head and nape have 

 brownish margins, and the under parts are paler. The female has the 

 head and back dull brown, the crown darker, the under parts dull greyish 

 brown, with a reddish tinge, the lower abdomen and under tail-coverts 

 dirty white. 



Hob. Europe generally, but not common north of the Arctic 

 circle ; east to Western Siberia, Persia, and Turkestan ; North 

 Africa in winter. 



Frequents groves, gardens, and plantations. Is quick and 

 active in its movements, and is as a rule by no means shy. Its 

 song though short is loud, melodious, and exultant, in England 

 at least being regarded as a good harbinger of returning spring, 

 for the birds begin singing immediately on the cessation of 

 frost and cold. It feeds chiefly on insects during the summer, 

 and on seeds and berries at other seasons, and may be reckoned 

 amongst the farmer's and gardener's best friends. It breeds in 

 April or May, placing its neat little nest on the bough of a 

 tree, but seldom in a hedge ; it is constructed of grass-bents, 

 rootlets, moss, lichens, and fine bark-strips, carefully lined with 

 wool, hair, or feathers. The eggs 4 to 6 in number are purplish 

 grey, clouded with rufous, washed with green, and spotted and 

 blotched with dark red, and measure about 0*77 by 0*56. 

 Occasional varieties are pale blue, faintly marked with purple, 

 and finely spotted with dark brown. 



451. CANARIAN CHAFFINCH. 

 FRINGILLA TINTILLON. 



Fringilla tintillon, Webb and Berth., Orn. Canar. p. 21. pi. 4, fig. 1 

 (1836-44) ; Dresser, iv. p. 9, pi. 183, fig. 1, (partim), ix. p. 190 ; 

 ? Fringilla canariensis, Vieill., Nouv. Diet. xii. p. 232 (1817) ; Sharpe,. 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 177. 



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