CITBIL FINCH. 31 



in those parts of Asia and Africa which abut on the European border. 

 Caj)tain Loche says it occurs only accidentally in Algeria. 



Thus limited to the southern parts of Europe, the Citril Finch is 

 nevertheless a true Alpine bird, living not only among the smaller 

 hills, but frequenting the highest Alpine Mountains as far as the 

 arboreal region extends. It is found, says Naumann, in the upper 

 dark forests which are broken here and there by open plains overgrown 

 with grass, and rocky precipices. Count Miihle says it is rare in 

 Greece everywhere except in the mountains. Lord Lilford (Ibis, 1860) 

 says the Citril Finch is "common in Corfu and Epirus in summer." 



Salvadori (Fauna d'ltalia) writes of this bird, "In spite of all 

 Malherbe has asserted about finding this bird in Sicily, it has been 

 denied by Doderlein and Benoit. Cara says it has been found in 

 Sardinia, where I think I may affirm decidedly that it has never 

 occurred. In high Italy it has been observed in Piedmont, Lombardy, 

 Venetia, and the Tyrol, and comes there regularly every year. The 

 noble Ernest Tarati wrote to me that at his seat in Lombardy he has 

 taken eight or ten individuals in the space of twelve years, and always 

 in September. 



"According to Durazzo it ought to arrive sometimes in Liguria, 

 especially on the eastern coasts. It has never, according to Doderlein, 

 been observed in Modena. Bettoni and other Venetian au.thors affirm 

 that it sometimes nests in Lombardy and Venice, but this is not well 

 ascertained. In t^e Tyrol, according to Althammer, it is only found 

 irregularly in its passage. According to Bailley (Orn., p. 213) it lives 

 stationary among the mountains of Savoy and u]3on the southern slopes 

 of Moncenisio, and, according to Riva (Orn. Tran., p. 291), upon the 

 Swiss Alps. According to Bailley, it has a mild and confiding dispo- 

 sition. It lives in the pine forests, from which it often descends in 

 the severe parts of winter. It feeds on seeds and buds. It nests 

 upon the thick foliaged trees, and especially upon the fir trees. The 

 nest is made externally of lichens, moss, and dried sticks, intertwined 

 with spider-webs, and internally with soft filaments and horse-hair. 

 The eggs, in number from five to six, are of a clear blue, with obscure 

 spots and points scattered over." 



Doderlein (op. cit.) says of this .bird, "This species is very rare in 

 central Italy. It is generally confined to the thick alpine groves, and 

 is never seen in the plains. It seems that it has never been noticed in 

 the Modenese territory; at the same time specimen-hunters in the moun- 

 tains would have agreed to note its presence or absence. According 

 to Malherbe, II venhtrone sometimes aj^pears near Messina in winter, 

 and also more frequently near Palermo. When I have been in Sicily 



