266 THE HAWFINCH 



wing. The tail is white in the middle and darker at 

 the sides, the underparts are greyish with a tinge of 

 violet. The middle wing feathers are serrated in wavy 

 curves, and look as if dipt with scissors, the bill is 

 exceptionally strong, very thick at the base, and sharp 

 at the point. It lays four to six eggs of a pale green 

 colour slightly speckled. The nest is well-built and is 

 placed in fruit trees, and in open spaces in the woods, 

 at a height of from six feet upwards. 



The moral of the story of the gardener and the 

 Hawfinch is that the gardener must protect his peas. 



