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county. Mr. R. Gray informs us that the young have been observed near the south end of Loch 

 Lomond. He also makes mention of it as breeding plentifully in Lanarkshire, Dumfriesshire, 

 and of late years in Ayrshire ; and mention is made in the ' Birds of Ayrshire and Wigtonshire ' 

 that a record dated as far back as 1792 states that it was then known to breed in Kirkcudbright. 

 Besides the above-named counties, we have evidence of its having bred in Linlithgow from 

 Macgillivray ; and Mr. A. G. More mentions it as nesting in Selkirk. 



It has been obtained as far north as Bear Island, Spitsbergen, by Dr. Malmgren, and 

 throughout Scandinavia is a common bird, Mr. R. Collett recording it as " breeding tolerably 

 abundantly in the conifer-woods of Norway, about as high as the polar circle — less numerously, 

 though by no means rare, in Bergen. In June 1859 Sommerfeldt observed two individuals in 

 East Finmark. In certain localities it appears periodically in vast numbers, and breeds abun- 

 dantly as at Christiania in 1863, but disappears again, and the next year shows itself in equal 

 numbers at another place. In 1866 it was found as high as (Erkedal (Lundgren). It seldom 

 goes above the range of conifer growth, and is found on the fells as high as the spruce trees 

 grow. In July 1870 it was seen in the most elevated spruce-wood at CEilo, in Valders." He 

 further states that near Christiania they are common, but their numbers depend on the abundance 

 of the fir seeds, on which this bird chiefly feeds. Many breed in that locality ; but, owing to the 

 nest being placed far in the woods, and their time for breeding differing from that of other birds, 

 it is but seldom found. During the whole summer these birds range through the forests in flocks, 

 and in the autumn and winter approach inhabited places. 



Nilsson records it as common throughout Sweden; and Wheelwright found it numerous 

 both in Wermland and in Lapland. Dresser when travelling through Sweden in the depth of 

 the winter observed it almost daily along the road-sides frequenting the firs and larches, and 

 found it equally common in Finland. Meves met with it here and there in the Archangel 

 Government, at Kargopol, Cholmogory, and other places. Sabanaeff speaks of it as observed in 

 the Governments of Jaroslaf and Moscow, and states that its range in Russia is the same as that 

 of the common Bullfinch. He met with it in the conifer-woods on the Kaslinsky and Kesh- 

 temsky Ural, and, during migration, on the western slope and in the districts to the north of 

 Ekaterinburg. It is seen annually in all suitable localities in the countries bordering the Baltic, 

 but is everywhere a wanderer, appearing at uncertain intervals. It has been met with breeding 

 in the mountains in Northern Germany; and Borggreve mentions the Harz, the mountains of 

 Thuringia, and Silesia amongst other localities ; but almost every part of Germany where there 

 is conifer growth is at times visited by this bird. Mr. Carl Sachse shot several in July, near 

 Coblentz, and informs us that he often sees them in the autumn in the mountain-ash trees on the 

 banks of the Rhine. Mr. Benzon writes that " it occurs in Denmark in flocks during severe 

 winters, but at irregular periods. Now and then flocks are seen in the summer months ; but it 

 has not been known to breed there. Mr. Benzon possesses examples from the Faeroes, where it 

 occasionally occurs ; and where, according to Mr. H. C. Muller, several were seen in September 

 1861." In Belgium, according to Baron De Selys-Longchamps, it "occurs annually; but irre- 

 gularly, and not at any fixed season. I have seen flocks of about fourteen individuals in the 

 middle of the summer, which remained till the winter in the gardens where conifers grew ; and 

 at other times they only pass through, sometimes appearing in large numbers during the first 



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