34



on the Nesting of the Hawfinch.



the lower neck, centre of breast, abdomen and sides ; elsewhere

it was well covered. The crown and upper back were brown ;

the rump lighter ; axillaries rufous; primaries black. Three of

the secondaries were blue-grey on the anterior margins; the

prominent white margins of the coverts formed a bar of white on

the wing. The breast, flanks and abdomen were huffish-white,

many of the feathers being tipped with brown, giving the whole

of the underparts a very distinctive mottled appearance. The

tail was very short, the three outer rectrices showing white on

the inner margins. The mottled feathering and white* ground¬

colour of the breast made the young very conspicuous, even at a

little distance, and here again, as in the case of the Sprosser, I

must confess myself unable to see that the nestling plumage can

by any possibility be protective.


The young Hawfinches flew on the evening of the 26th,

and were so tame that I had no difficulty in inducing them to

pose before the camera. After a time, however, they became

even wilder than the adults, and when, about six weeks later, I

netted and brought them into the house, they severely damaged

their heads by dashing against the netting. They were reared

on gentles and green peas. Only the small, tender peas were

touched but these were consumed in great quantities.


A young bird examined on the nth August had the two

centre rectrices olivaceous, the others white on the inner margins;

the primaries, from the fifth to the ninth, had jagged blue tips ;

the secondaries blue outer margins. The greater and lesser

coverts had white margins ; the rump was yellowish with darker

tips to the feathers ; the saddle was dark brown; the head and

cheeks yellowish ; no black on the throat.



* in



wild state the ground-colour is pale-yellow.— Ki>.



