BULLFINCH. 53 



fearful of being discovered in the act, is very pleasing and mellow. 

 Usually it is warbled as he sits bolt upright, and every now and then jerks 

 his wings and tail and turns his head from side to side, as if about to take 

 wing. The female also sings j but her performance is much inferior to 

 that of the male. The Bullfinch is in great request as a cage -bird, from 

 the readiness with which it will learn to whistle various tunes, and from 

 its docile and confiding disposition. 



There can be little doubt that Bullfinches mate for life. At all seasons 

 of the year they may be observed in pairs, and even in midwinter marks 

 of affection may be constantly seen passing between them. In early spring 

 the male retires with his mate to the haunts he loves best, and in which he 

 seems most at home, to the dense shrubberies and thickets, amongst a 

 superabundance of verdure of all descriptions, where the young can be 

 reared in seclusion. So retiring is he, that during the breeding-season he 

 is very rarely seen, and seldom, indeed, betrays the whereabouts of his 

 nest ; in fact, at this time of the year the Bullfinch is one of the most 

 silent of birds ; for its bridal song is only heard at intervals in early spring. 

 It usually commences to build its nest about the middle of April, and eggs 

 may be found by the latter end of that month. The site for the nest is 

 chosen in a low tree or bush; very often some species of evergreen is 

 selected, as a holly or a yew, and always in a dense situation. 

 Plantations of young firs are very often selected by the Bullfinch, 

 and its nest is frequently placed in the branches of a small spruce. A 

 whitethorn hedge near a plantation or a thick wood is also a favourite 

 place. The nest of the Bullfinch can readily be told from that of almost 

 every other British bird. It is a very beautiful structure, the framework 

 almost entirely composed of slender twigs, and is very flat, not unlike a 

 miniature Wood-Pigeon''s nest. The sticks are very artfully woven and 

 matted together ; and in the middle of this platform of sticks the cup 

 of the nest is formed of fine rootlets projecting above the framework, 

 making the inside as deep as usual. In some nests a little wool or a 

 feather or two are found. The eggs are from four to six in number, 

 greenish blue in ground-colour, spotted and sometimes streaked with dark 

 purplish brown, and with larger and paler blotches of pinkish brown. In 

 some eggs the spots are evenly distributed over the entire surface, 

 but in the majority of specimens they form an irregular zone round the 

 large end. The eggs of the Bullfinch are much bluer than those of any 

 allied common birds, except those of the Lesser Redpole, with which their 

 size effectually prevents any confusion. They are in fact miniature Pine- 

 Grosbeak's eggs. The only eggs of British birds which they at all closely 

 resemble are those of the Scarlet Bullfinch ; but as this bird does not 

 breed in this country, they cannot be confused with them, except in the 

 cabinet. These eggs may be distinguished from those of the common 



