98 



in that Government. Mr. L. SabanaefF states that it breeds commonly in the Jaroslaf Govern- 

 ment, and less numerously in that of Moscow. According to Daniloff it breeds in the Orion 7 and 

 Charkoff Governments. In the Perm Government SabanaefF met with it only on passage, and it 

 was observed almost exclusively in the conifer-woods on the eastern slope. In the Kaslinsky and 

 Keshtemsky Ural it was rare. 



So far as I can ascertain, the present species is the Bullfinch found in Poland and the Baltic 

 Provinces ; but it would be interesting to obtain a series from there for examination, especially 

 as, according to Mr. H. Goebel (J. f. O. 1873, p. 9), it is resident in Courland. During the 

 winter season it is met with here and there in Germany, and is stated to straggle also to Holland 

 and Belgium; and, according to Messrs. Degland and Gerbe, numbers appeared near Lille in 

 December 1830. It probably occurs in Heligoland; for Mr. Cordeaux says that specimens from 

 there are more richly coloured than our bird ; and Kjeerbolling says that it visits Denmark, but 

 only in the winter season on its wanderings, appearing soon after the first frost. I do not find 

 any instance of its occurrence in France and Italy; but Dr. A. Fritsch says (J. f. O. 1871, p. 309) 

 that it visits Bohemia during the winter. All the specimens I have examined from Greece 

 belong to the present species ; and Dr. Kriiper states that it is a rare winter visitant to that 

 country, and is not met with every season. Colonel Drummond-Hay speaks of it, however, as 

 being common in Macedonia in winter; and Lord Lilford writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 138) that it is 

 " a rare winter visitor to Corfu and Epirus, common in December in Albania proper, about the 

 mouth of the river Drin," where he observed it feeding on the berries of the privet. In Southern 

 Russia it appears to be common ; and Professor von Nordmann states that it is abundant near 

 Odessa from the autumn to the spring, and breeds in the mountains of Ghouriel. In the Uman 

 district, in Southern Russia, it is, Mr. Goebel states, a regular winter visitor, appearing about the 

 end of October and remaining until the end of March, when it migrates northwards. 



It is somewhat difficult to trace the range of the present species in Asia, owing to the lack 

 of reliable information ; but I have examined specimens from Onon and the Ussuri river, which 

 prove that it is met with thus far to the east ; and I may add that I have also examined examples 

 of Pyrrhula cineracea, the eastern representative of the present species, from Onon. 



In habits, mode of nidification, and song the present species does not differ from the 

 common European Bullfinch. I have received its nest and eggs from Sweden ; and, except that 

 the latter are a trifle large compared with the eggs of Pyrrhula europcea, I can detect no dif- 

 ference. Like that species it feeds on seeds and berries, and to some extent also on the tender 

 buds of trees and bushes ; and Mr. R. Collett informs me that in winter " it feeds on the seeds 

 of Sorbus aucuparia, Acer platanoides, Fraxinus, Symphoricarpus, Rubus idmcs, Syringa, and of 

 other bushes and trees." In Norway it has eggs late in May ; and about the end of June, when 

 the young have left the nest, they wander about with the old females, the old males being 

 usually found apart. 



Like the common species the Northern Bullfinch is subject to melanism ; and Mr. Collett 

 says that there are four black specimens in the Christiania Museum. 



The present species being the last of the European Bullfinches of which I shall have to 

 treat, it may be of some use to working ornithologists to give a short review of the various allied 

 species that are known to exist, taking, as usual, Gray's well-known ' Hand-list' as a basis. 



