ORDER PASSERES. 251 



other small granivorous birds. Therefore, they should have 

 but little of it. As they are very fond of bathing, their 

 water should be renewed daily, and given to them in abun- 

 dance. 



The Mountain Finch arrives here and on the continent 

 generally in autumn, and passes the winter with us, departing 

 again in spring. This species assembles in flocks, more or 

 less numerous, and unites with the chaffinch and other small 

 granivorous birds, retiring in the evening into the forests. They 

 are easily distinguished from the others ; for they fly, settle, 

 and rise again in close compacted bodies, and utter a cry 

 that has some resemblance to that of a cat. M. Lottinger, 

 who has observed them much, in Lorraine, assures us that 

 the females alone migrate, while the males remain in the 

 Vosges. But this assertion cannot be generalized: for 

 numerous flocks are to be seen elsewhere, composed both of 

 males and females. In autumn it is certainly very difficult 

 to distinguish one from the other, the plumage being so 

 nearly similar, especially in the young ones of the existing 

 year — ^but in the early days of winter, the characteristic 

 colours of the male begin to appear. Besides the cry just 

 mentioned, these birds have another, which is never heard 

 but when they are settled on the ground. It somewhat 

 resembles that of the stone-chat, but is not so loud and dis- 

 tinct. Their song is feeble and monotonous ; it is a slight 

 warbling, which cannot be heard at any distance. 



The mountain-finch is more docile than the chaffinch, and 

 more easily taken in snares, and sooner reconciled to captivity. 

 It retires northward generally when the frosty season is over, 

 though it sometimes will remain imtil the end of March : but 

 it then becomes a hurtful animal, for, like the bulfinch, it 

 destroys the young buds of fruit-trees, especially those of the 

 plum. According to travellers, it appears that it nestles in 



