44 GRAMINIVOILE. 



the male takes his turn. The principal food of the grown- 

 up birds is small seeds, especially those which abound in 

 fixed oil, which are indeed the favourites with all the little 

 birds, as they yield much more nourishment from the same 

 quantity than those which are more dry. The seeds of some 

 of the grasses are also eaten occasionally by these birds ; and 

 it is probable that, from the situations in which the nests 

 are placed, the young birds are partially fed upon insects and 

 their larvae. 



Severe weather sometimes drives the greater part of the 

 green finches from the colder districts ; and in all places 

 they resort to the farm-yards, the highways, and generally 

 to those places which men and domestic animals frequent, 

 when the weather becomes inclement ; and, in these cases, 

 they skulk about, and do not brave the storm like many 

 other species. 



THE CHAFFINCH (Fringilla ccdebs). 



The chaffinch gets the name of ccelebs (the bachelor) from 

 the female moving southward for a reason similar to that 

 which has already been explained in the article on the 

 snow-bunting. 



Chaffinches are very common birds, early in the season, 

 and lively during the whole course of it, so much so that 

 their gleesome activity has given rise to the proverb, " as 

 gay as a chaffinch." They are distributed over the whole 

 country, at least as far to the north as the Orkney Isles ; 

 but they are birds of the cultivated land and its margins, 

 rather than of the thick forests or the upland wastes. 



The chaffinch is about the same lineal dimensions as the 

 house-sparrow, but more lightly and elegantly formed ; the 

 tail longer and forked, and the feathers on the crown of the 

 head (in the male) a little produced. It runs with a swift 

 and even motion without hopping, and skips very grace- 



