130 'BEITISH BIEDS 



The nest is placed among the close branches of a bush or low 

 tree, and is somewhat loosely put together, straw, roots, and moss, 

 mixed with wool, being used, with a lining of fibres, horsehair, and 

 feathers. The eggs are four to six in number, and are white, faintly 

 spotted and speckled with purplish red at the large end. The young 

 are fed on seeds of various weeds and small caterpillars ; and two, 

 and sometimes three, broods are reared in the season. At the end 

 of summer the greenfinches repair to the fields, and are seen in 

 flocks of two or three score to a hundred or more individuals, and 

 are also found associating with sparrows, chaffinches, and other 

 species. 



The greenfinch is a common bird throughout the British Islands. 



Hawfinch. 

 Coccothraustes vulgaris. 



Fio. 47. HAWFINCH. ^ natural size. 



Lore, throat, and plumage at the base of the biH black ; crown 

 and cheeks reddish brown ; nape ash-grey ; back dark reddish 

 brown ; wings black ; great covets white ; under parts light purplish 

 red. Length, seven inches. 



