68 GRAMINI VOILE. 



The female has all the tints considerably paler, and that 

 part of the head and neck which is black in the summer plu- 

 mage of the male is grey in the female. The young in their 

 first plumage resemble the female on the other part ; but the 

 breast is much paler, being a sort of brownish white. The 

 males which arrive early in the season have the head much 

 blacker than those which arrive after the season is farther 

 advanced. But in all their varieties of plumage they are 

 handsome birds, and they are lively and energetic in their 

 motions. 



THE HAW-FINCH (Fringilla coccotliraustcs). 



The haw-finch is the largest bird of the genus that appears 

 in the British islands ; and it has hitherto been observed only 

 in the southern parts of the country. 



The plumage and air of the haw-finch are indicative of a 

 bird of soft manners and mild skies, rather than of one which 

 has to contend with the winds in bleak places. The bill is, 

 very large in proportion to the size of the bird, and resembles 

 in shape that of the green-finch ; indeed, except in the tints 

 and markings of the plumage, the green-finch is the other 

 British bird with which the haw-finch has the most points of 

 resemblance. But the haw-finch is much more a woodland 

 bird than the other, feeding chiefly on the seeds of trees and 

 the kernels of their fruits. 



The colours are : round the base of the bill, from that to 

 the eyes, and also the chin, black ; the crown of the head 

 and cheeks pale chestnut brown, with a slight tinge of grey, 

 which disappears in the breeding time ; and a broad collar of 

 delicate bluish grey on the nape and upper part of the neck. 

 The back very deep reddish brown, passing into pale chest- 

 nut on the rump and upper tail-coverts. The lesser coverts 

 deep reddish brown, with a row of white towards the greater 

 coverts, forming a long and very distinct oblique bar on the 



