FINCHES. 



379 



or in an old whitethorn often in quite an exposed situation ; and when it breeds 

 in woods it sometimes selects a hornbeam, and less frequently a holly. The haw- 

 finch does not often breed in shrubberies, and its nest is somewhat rarely placed 

 in evergreen trees ; but it has been found amongst ivy. It will also breed in tall 

 oak-trees, and occasionally nests in fir-trees and plantations. Sometimes the nest 

 is only a few feet from the ground, while at others it is as much as forty feet. 

 Building is usually commenced by the latter end of April or early in May, and 

 sometimes several nests will be found in the same plantation. The nest is a very 

 beautiful piece of handiwork, similar to that of the bullfinch, on an enlarged scale. 

 The outside is invariably made of twigs, frequently intermixed with lichens, and 

 sometimes with dry plants ; and the cup is formed of dry grasses lined with fine 

 roots, and often a little hair. As a rule it is very flat, and somewhat bulky, and 

 the cup is generally shallow and neatly finished. The eggs vary from four to six 

 in number, and are usually laid about the second week in May, sometimes earlier. 

 There are two very distinct types ; the usual one is pale olive or bluish green in 

 ground-colour, streaked with dark olive-brown, and having a few spots of the 

 same colour on the surface, and with underlying markings of greyish brown. The 

 second differs in having the ground-colour buflf, and the underlying spots more 

 inclined to violet-grey." During the autumn the broods of young hawfinches lead 

 a family life, making frequent inroads into the kitchen gardens to feed upon peas ; 

 the pods of which are easily opened by their powerful mandibles. In winter the 

 hawfinch sometimes conquers its shyness sufficiently to approach houses, and even 

 to partake of crumbs thrown upon the lawn ; but this is in hard weather, when the 

 birds are driven to extremities. It should be noted that the injuries inflicted on 

 the garden are compensated by the destruction which the hawfinch carries out 

 among noxious insects ; its food during the early months of the summer consisting 

 principally of caterpillars. The general colour of the adult male is chocolate-brown 

 above, with a broad collar of ash-grey separating the crown of the head from the 

 mantle ; the lower-back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are cinnamon-brown ; the 

 wings black, glossed with steel blue at the end of the square-shaped inner 

 primaries and outer secondaries ; the primaries have a large spot of white about 

 the middle of the inner web ; the tail-feathers are blackish, edged with brown, 

 the outer feathers being tipped with white on the inner web ; while the throat 

 is black, and the lower-parts vinaceous brown. 

 Rose-Breasted In these birds the bill is very heavy, the lower mandible being 



Grosbeak, etc. as deep as the upper ; the wing is longer than the tail, and pointed, 

 the secondaries falling short of the primaries by more than the length of 

 the metatarsus, while the feet are short and stout. These birds are found 

 in North America general^, ranging throughout Central America to Colombia, 

 Ecuador, and the Antilles. The common rose-breasted grosbeak {Hedymeles 

 virginianus) is well known in the United States, where it is valued for its 

 handsome plumage and charming song. Dr. Coues gives the following account 

 of its habits : — " I have nowhere found this beautiful bird more abundant than 

 along the Red River of the north, and there may be no locality where its 

 nidification and breeding-habits can be studied to greater advantage. Oh 

 entering the belt of noble timber that borders the river in June, we are sure 



