3 86 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



woven together with fine roots and hair, lined with thistle-down and feathers. 

 Another nest contained no feathers, being lined entirely with thistle-down. A 

 third was lined entirely with hair, and very little thistle-down had been used 

 in its construction." The eggs are greenish blue in ground-colour, speckled 

 with reddish grey and blood-red. The citril finch is a favourite among continental 

 bird fanciers, being easily tamed, and occasionally hybridising with other finches 

 in captivity. Although it passes the summer among the mountain forests, it 



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CITRIL FINCH, SNOW-FINCH, AND LESSER REDPOLL {\ Hat. size). 



descends from the higher grounds during severe weather. It is valued as a cage- 

 bird, principally because it possesses a loud, pleasant song, sometimes compared to 

 that of the canary. The adult male in breeding-plumage has the general colour 

 above dull olive-green, with dusky shaft-streaks to the feathers ; the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts being brighter yellow ; the nape and sides of the throat 

 are ashy grey ; the wings and tail dusky brown, edged with ashy yellow ; and the 

 crown of the head, as well as the feathers round the eye, the fore-part of the 

 cheeks, and the throat and chest olive-yellow. 



