BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 213 



white; tail-coverts, snow-white; legs and feel, 

 clove-brown. The female has no red on the 

 breast : it is of a very pale tint, between wood- 

 brown and hair-brown; and the black on her 

 head, wings, and tail, is neither so deep, nor the 

 white parts of the plumage so bright. The young 

 male bullfinches, for nearly two months, resemble 

 the female in plumage, and there is no knowing 

 the male birds from the female till the red appears 

 on their breast. Too much hemp-seed changes the 

 plumage of this bird to black : We had one that 

 Was all black except the breast, and even that 

 had a blackish tinge. Bullfinches have sometimes 

 been seen white. 



So7ig. 



Its common song is a short, often repeated, 

 agreeable sprightly warble ; its call-note is rather 

 wild, but its soft notes are very melodious. Early 

 in the morning, or when undisturbed, the bull- 

 finch pours out a soft sweet warbling strain of (at 

 least to our ears,) charming melody; but so low 

 is this tender carol, that it cannot be heard at 

 any distance from the bird : It has also a melan- 

 choly wailing note which it utters when agitated 



