184 CHAFFINCH. 
distributed during the breeding-season throughout the temperate 
regions of Europe down to the Mediterranean. Colonel Irby found 
it breeding near Gibraltar, but in the south of Spain it must be very 
local in summer, though common in winter. At that season it visits 
Egypt as well as the coast of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, but 
inland, the representative species is F: spodiogenys, the male of which 
has a bluish-grey head and nape, greenish back, and under parts of 
a vinaceous white, while the female is much greyer than our bird. 
Dr. Sharpe distinguishes the Madeiran Chaffinch as /. maderensis, 
and considers # moreleti of the Azores and F. tintillon of the 
Canaries as subspecies ; the dark grey / ¢eydea, found on the Peak 
of Teneriffe, being distinct. Our Chaffinch, breeds on Hermon, 
Lebanon, and in the forest region of Persia ; and has been found as 
far east as Omsk in Siberia. 
About the middle of April, the nest, almost too well known to 
need description, may be found at a moderate height from the 
ground, in a fork of the lower branches of a tree or in a bush, and 
is artfully composed of wool, green moss, lichens and other 
substances felted together, with a lining of hair and feathers. The 
eggs, 4-6 in number, are usually of a pale greenish-blue, clouded 
with reddish- and spotted with purplish-brown, but occasionally they 
are unspotted blue: measurements ‘8 by *57 in. Two broods are 
generally reared in the season. The call-note is chissick. The alarm- 
note or challenge is the familiar spink, spink, spink, to which the bird 
owes one of its many local names ; the song varies much in different 
localities, one of the commonest renderings being fod/-toll, pretty- 
little dé-édr. Both young and old feed largely on insects and the 
seeds of weeds, so that in spite of pilfering of fruit, vegetables 
and newly-sown seeds, the Chaffinch may be considered as one of 
the gardener’s best friends. 
Adult male in spring: forehead black ; crown and nape bluish- 
grey; back reddish-brown; rump yellowish-green ; upper wing- 
coverts white, greater coverts black, tipped with yellowish-white, 
forming two conspicuous bars; quills dull brown, slightly fringed 
with greenish-white ; central tail-feathers dark grey, the rest black, 
with broad white patches on the two exterior pairs ; cheeks, throat 
and under parts rich reddish-brown, paler on the belly ; bill bluish- 
jiead ; legs dull brown. Length 6 in. ; wing 34 in. In autumn the 
bill is brownish, and the head is tinged with rufous. Female: head 
and back light yellowish-brown ; breast pale yellowish-grey. Young: 
similar to the female, but with paler tints at first; the males, how- 
ever, begin to show brighter colours within a fortnight. 
