In Farm and Garden. 167 



indiscriminately; all are caged and carried off, to a 

 worse fate by far, in most instances, than sudden 

 dissolution from a shot-gun. It is true the bird- 

 catcher must ply his wretched business with due 

 regard to an all too brief close time; but this in not 

 a few cases he ignores, and thus still further consti- 

 tutes himself the scourge of the fields and hedgerows. 

 We invariably remarked that Bullfinches retired to 

 the cover of shrubberies and gardens to breed. 

 During the remainder of the year they kept to the 

 hedgerows, especially such as contained plenty of 

 weeds beside them, almost invariably in pairs, one 

 bird trooping in undulating flight after the other, and 

 both made very conspicuous by the white rump. 

 The Hawfinch was much rarer. This shy bird loves 

 the small plantations, but in fruit time comes into 

 the^ gardens near its usual haunts. We should class 

 it as perhaps the most local of the Finches (with the 

 possible exception of the Siskin) in the northern 

 shires of England, whilst north of these it seems 

 almost everywhere to be a winter visitor only. 

 During winter flocks of Crossbills are occasionally 

 met with, but they are no common feature of the 

 bird-life of farm and garden in Yorkshire or Derby- 

 shire. The Tree Sparrow is another very local and 

 uncommon species, and especially during the breed- 

 ing season. We have records of odd nests made in 

 holes in trees on some of the farms, but we find it 



