EOBINS AND BULLFINCHES. ^ 



the delusion, already noticed, which not uncommonly possesses 

 them in a warm autumn, that it is their duty to set about 

 pairing and nest-building already. But all these would affect 

 other species also, and the only reason which seems to suit the 

 idiosyncrasies of the Robin is this curious rivalry between young 

 and old. 



The Robins, I need not say, are everywhere ' ; but there are 

 certain kinds of birds for which we must look out in particular 

 places. I mentioned Parsons' Pleasure just now ; and we may 

 take it very well as a starting-point, offering as it does, in a 

 space of less than a hundred yards square, every kind of supply 

 that a bird can possibly want ; water, sedge, reeds, meadows, 

 gravel, railings, hedges, and trees and bushes of many kinds, 

 forming abundant cover. In this cover, as you walk along the 

 footpath towards the weir, you will very likely see a pair of 

 Bullfinches. They were here the greater part of last winter, 

 and are occasionally seen even in college and privatiB gardens ; 

 but very rarely in the breeding-season or the summer, when 

 they are away in the densest woods, where their beautiful nest and 

 eggs are not too often found. Should they be at their usual 

 work of devouring buds, it is well worth while to stop and watch 

 the process ; at Parsons' Pleasure they can do no serious harm, 

 and the Bullfinch's bill is not an instrument to be lightly passed 

 over. It places him apart from all other common English birds, 

 and brings him into the same sub-family as the Crossbill and 



' It is worth noticing that this bird is much more abundant in England 

 than on the continent. During a fortnight spent at Wiesbaden (a town 

 full of gardens) I neither heard nor saw a single specimen. 



