274 FRINGILLID.E. 



been obtained in England, are towards the south-east. Near Edinburgh, 

 and Bathgate, — where single individuals were obtained, — are the only 

 Scottish localities mentioned by Sir Wm. Jardine and Mr. Macgillivray. 



THE BULLFINCH. 



Pyrrhula vulgaris, Temm. 

 Loxia pyrrkula, Linn. 



Is one of those birds met with in the four quarters of the 

 island, and probably in every county ; but at the 

 same time is rather scarce. 



Mr. Selby remarks, that it is " common in all the wooded districts 

 of these islands." This will not however apply to Ireland. In many 

 of the artificially wooded districts, the bullfinch is either not to be 

 found at all, or only known as an occasional visitant; but where an 

 extent of natural wood remains, and there is sufficient growth of the 

 more shrubby trees, it may be looked for, but cannot be reckoned 

 on with certainty. In some picturesque and extensive glens in 

 the county of Antrim, near Belfast, this bird was common so long 

 as the hazel and holly of natural growth maintained their ground, 

 but as these were swept away, the bullfinch deserted such locali- 

 ties, as abodes, and " few and far between" are now even 

 its temporary visits. In the neighbouring county of Down, it 

 finds a home in sequestered situations where the hazel predomi- 

 nates — as at Tollymore Park, the Wood House, near Bosstrevor, 

 &c, — and in this shrubby tree, commonly builds. In " na- 

 ture's wild domain," the bullfinch looks eminently beautiful, and 

 can be admired without the alloy associated with its appearance 

 in the garden or the orchard, where it proves so destructive by 

 eating the buds of the fruit trees* Its call-note and song have 

 generaUy met with* little admiration from the historians of the 

 species, but being sweetly plaintive, they are to me extremely 

 pleasing. These birds came in small numbers t in two successive 

 winters of late years to an unusual locality ; — a little garden apart 



* It has been remarked, both in the north and south of the island, to be very par- 

 tial to feeding on the buds of the sloe or black-thorn (Primus spinosa). 



f I have rarely heard of more than from 20 to 30 birds being seen in a flock 

 during winter. 



