3 82 PERCHING BIRDS. 



The True Finches. 



Subfamily Frixgillix.z. 



The true finches are distinguished from the grosbeak group by their less 



powerful bills, and different cranial characters ; and although their bills are 



variously modified to meet their manner of life, on the whole they possess many 



common characteristics. They are found principally in temperate climates. 



Chaffinches possess a rather long and slender bill, conical in shape ; 

 The Chaffinches. . „ . . . l 



and the wings are furnished with a first primary so small as to seem 



wanting, the rest of these feathers varying in their comparative length. The tail 

 is moderately long and decidedly forked. These finches inhabit Europe generally, as 

 well as Western Siberia, Persia, Turkestan, Madeira, and the Canaries and Azores. 

 Common The common chaffinch (Fringilla ccelebs), is abundant in most parts 



Chaffinch. f Europe, being in some districts even more plentiful than the house- 

 sparrow. In the British Isles, as on the Continent, it is a general favourite, nesting 

 in close proximity to dwelling-houses, and rearing its young almost under the 

 windows. During the winter, chaffinches consort in large flocks, which break up 

 at the close of the cold weather, when their familiar notes enliven groves and 

 orchards with their melody. In early spring the chaffinch begins to pair, 

 when the male birds are no longer tolerant of the society of their fellows, but 

 exhibit a high degree of jealousy towards their rivals. Even in the middle of 

 June we have seen cock-birds engaged in combat, although such contests usually 

 precede the nesting-season. The chaffinch builds its nest in a fruit-tree or tall 

 hedgerow ; and we recollect one nest built on the trunk of a large tree, which 

 looked as if it had been placed there by accident rather than by design, so exactly 

 did its grey trimming harmonise with the colour of the bark. Mr. Gray remarks 

 that the chaffinch " varies the structure of its nest according to the locality which 

 it happens to frequent. In rural places, away from the dust and smoke prevailing 

 near cities and large towns, the nest is a perfect model in its way for neatness and 

 compactness of form ; but in less favourable situations, where the building materials 

 are not so fresh, it is slovenly and untidy. Any large series of nests gives ample 

 proof of this, some being composed entirely of moss closely interwoven, others of 

 lichens laced all over with spiders' webs, while those obtained in the outskirts of 

 Glasgow are built of dirty straws, pieces of paper, and bits of blackened moss 

 intermixed." Mr. Dresser describes a nest which he took in Finland as being of 

 the most artistic structure. It was placed upon a birch-tree, and neatly ornamented 

 with pieces of yellow and grey lichens and small bits of birch-bark, so as to 

 resemble a portion of the tree itself; and was finally most carefully lined with soft 

 moss and bits of down and wool, through which some fine roots showed every here 

 and there. A remarkable nest found in Denmark was decorated all over the 

 outside with small pieces of newspaper. The eggs of the chaffinch are generally 

 purplish grey in ground-colour, washed with green, and blotched and spotted with 

 dark red ; but we have seen perfectly blue, unspotted eggs, although this variety 

 is rare. The chaffinch feeds during the spring and summer months principally 

 upon insects, and we have watched a male chaffinch gathering aphides from off the 



