Liming Chaffinches. 207 
near it a stuffed cock bird stood on the grass. Two 
pieces of whalebone smeared with bird-lime formed a 
pointed arch over the stuffed chaffinch. The live 
decoy bird in the cage from time to time uttered a 
few notes, which were immediately answered by a 
wild bird in the elms over-head. These notes are a 
challenge ; and the bird in the tree supposes them to 
proceed from the stuffed bird in the grass, and de- 
scends to fight him, when, as the deceived bird alights, 
his wings or feet come in contact with the whalebone 
—sometimes he perches on it—and the lime holds 
him fast. 
At that season (March) the cock birds have an 
irresistible inclination to do battle ; they are cease- 
lessly challenging each other, a.d the fowler takes 
advantage of it to snare them. Now this man said 
that these chaffinches sold for 6s. the dozen, and that 
when the birds were ‘on,’ as he called it, he could 
catch five dozen a day. In a walk of four or five 
miles I passed half-a-dozen such fellows, with cages. 
and stuffed chaffinches. This alone proves that 
cock chaffinches are very numerous in spring. Where, 
then, are they in winter, if the flocks of chaffinches at 
that period consist almost exclusively of female birds ? 
Probably they fly in small bodies of three or four, or 
singly, and so escape observation. But this division 
ofthe sexes presents a curious resemblance to the 
social customs discovered amongst certain savages. 
During the winter the birds separate, and the females 
