20 



through Mr. Maximowicz, which were shot on the 3rd (15 th) of May at Dshai, near the 

 Mariinskisch post. I shot a single old male on the 8th (20th) of May in the mixed (but 

 chiefly conifer) woods of the Bay of Castries, where the song of the Brambling was often 

 heard. About the end of August I saw this bird in large flocks near the Nikolaievsk post, 

 and shot several ; one, a male, shot on the 11th of September, had not fully moulted. About 

 the same time (on the 15th of September) Mr. Maack found the Brambling in flocks at the 

 mouth of the Ussuri. I did not see this bird in the Lower Amoor couutry in the late autumn 

 and winter, and supposed that it migrates southwards at the end of September and in October." 

 Mr. H. Whitely, who collected near Hakodadi, in Japan, remarks : — " I have observed this bird 

 in small parties in the winter. My specimens were obtained in January and February 1865." 

 Mr. Swinhoe says that it comes to " North China in winter, occurs occasionally as far south 

 as Amoy." It is also found in India ; and Dr. Jerdon gives the following note : — " It has 

 occasionally been found in the N.-W. Himalayas during the cold weather. It was sent from 

 Afghanistan by Griffith ; and Blyth has seen specimens from Simla and Cashmere. At 

 Mussooree Hutton observed it as " a rare winter visitant, though it may be common higher 

 up. I have only seen it in the flocks of Propasser rhodochrous." 



The late Mr. Wheelwright gives the following account of this species : — " In some parts of 

 the north the Brambling is called Harr-sparf, because they say that the Grayling, or Earr, come 

 up from the deeps as soon as this bird appears. When they first arrived they seemed to be in 

 full summer dress. We took our first nest on June 2nd. As far' as I could see, the nest was 

 always placed in a small fir, generally six to ten feet from the ground, very like that of the 

 Chaffinch, built outwardly of moss and fine grass, thickly lined with feathers of the Willow- 

 Grouse, deep and cup-shaped, but hardly so neat and pretty as that of the Chaffinch. Six eggs 

 appear to be about the full number, though I have often seen seven in one nest. The eggs are 

 very like those of the Chaffinch, but generally a trifle smaller, darker in the ground-colour, and 

 the purple lines and dots more coloured. Still the greatest caution is required in identifying the 

 eggs ; for where both birds breed in the same district the nests may be easily confounded ; and 

 this was a nest which I would always take myself, and see the old bird. Like the Mealy Redpoll, 

 there was a little mystery regarding the breeding of the Brambling. We took our first nest on 

 June 2nd ; and again as late as August 3rd I took two nests with fresh eggs. Could it be possible 

 that these birds bred twice in the season 1" Dresser can fully confirm the above excellent 

 remarks respecting the nidification of the Brambling. Near Uleaborg, where he found them 

 breeding, they were about equally common with the Chaffinch, and great care had to be taken 

 in identifying the nests to avoid mistake. He procured there a very beautiful nest, which was 

 outwardly formed chiefly of the white marsh-cotton, and which is now in the possession of the 

 eminent ornithologist, Mr. John Gould, to whom he gave it some years ago. 



Respecting its occurrence in Denmark, Mr. Alfred Benzon, of Copenhagen, writes to us as 

 follows : — " The NorsJce Bogfinke, also called KvceJcerfinke (KvceJeer from its call-note), is not of 

 rare occurrence in Denmark, during migration, from the middle of April to the end of the same 

 month. The males leave first, and in the autumn they are also the first to return, and often 

 remain with us during the winter. In the breeding-season they are never found here. They are 

 quarrelsome ; and in confinement this is particularly visible, as they often attack and mortally 



