46 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



The bird is very commonly taken in the winter by bird- 

 catchers. 



The Brambling usually arrives in Great Britain during 

 the month of October or November, and leaves us again 

 in the following March. It is to a certain extent a 

 sociable bird in its habits, being generally seen in flocks, 

 and very frequently in the company of other small birds 

 (especially Chaffinches) with similar tastes and diet. 

 Uncultivated and waste places and beech and fir planta- 

 tions are the favourite resorts of this bird. 



The nest is built in the fork of some tolerably high 

 tree, frequently a fir or birch, and is composed of moss 

 and lichen, interwoven with pieces of bark of the birch 

 tree, with a lining of feathers and wool. It is a handsome 

 structure, but not quite so neat and compact as that of the 

 Chaffinch. The eggs number five or six : they are of a 

 greenish colour, spotted and streaked with reddish-brown, 

 but they differ in size and markings. The bird does not 

 readily become tame in confinement, nor easily accustomed 

 to its surroundings, although many instances are on record 

 of its breeding during captivity ; it has also been known 

 to cross with a Chaffinch. 



As an article of food some persons profess to admire 

 the flesh of the Brambling, but the taste is bitter, and not 

 likely to be generally acceptable. 



The flight is quick and undulatory, and when the bird 

 is disturbed it seeks refuge in some neighbouring tree. 

 At night, plantations of larch, fir, or laurels are usually 

 sought fo iv roosting places. 



The Brambling feeds on grain, beech-mast, and the 

 seeds of grasses and other plants. Like the Chaffinch, it 

 also eats insects, upon which it feeds its young almost 



