150 CHAFFINCH. 



an inch and a half, but usually an inch and three- 

 quarters; the whole is firmly fixed between the branches, 

 to which some of its component parts are attached for 

 the purpose. 



In the neighbourhood of Belfast, where there are 

 ''branches" of the cotton manufacture, these birds use 

 that material in the construction of their nests; and 

 in answer to the objection that its conspicuous colour 

 would betray the presence of the nest, and not accord 

 with the theory that birds assimilate the outward 

 appearance of their structures to surrounding objects, 

 it was replied, says Mr. Thompson, that, on the con- 

 trary, the use of cotton in that locality might rather 

 be considered as rendering the nest more difficult of 

 detection, as the roadside hedges and neighbouring trees 

 were always dotted with tufts of it. 



The eggs are four or five in niimber, of a short oval 

 form, and of a dull bluish green colour, clouded with 

 dull red, often blended together into one tint. They 

 are slightly streaked, and somewhat spotted irregularly 

 over their whole surface with dark dull well-defined 

 red spots. Some have been found of a uniform dull 

 blue,' without any spots. 



N. Rowe, Esq., of Worcester College, Oxford, tells 

 me of two he had which were quite round, the ground 

 colour very pale blue, with three or four round black 

 spots scattered over the surface. 



W. Bridger, Esq. has obligingly forwarded the nest, 

 and the Bev. R. P. Alington a drawing of the nest, 

 which, though neither of them have had to be made 

 use of, I am equally obliged for. 



