THE FINCHES 209 



states that, at that time, no price was thought too high for 

 the purchase of a well-trained Chaffinch, the inhabitants of 

 Thuringia sometimes offering a cow in exchange for a really 

 good singer. As soon as a wild Chaffinch with a fine voice 

 was noticed in the neighbourhood, it was quickly marked 

 down and caught. 



We in England are more familiar with his distinctive 

 note of pink, pink, which is usually a sign that he is scared, 

 or at all events not quite easy in his mind. But his time 

 of song is a lengthy one — you may hear it from February 

 or early March until as late as July. 



A Chaffinch's nest is a beautiful piece of work, made of 

 much the same kind of materials as that of the Goldfinch. 

 It is usually about a fortnight in building. 



If the Goldfinch has a rival in its claim to be the most 

 beautiful of our Finches, it is the showy BULLFINCH 

 with his slatey-grey back, black-masked head and lovely 

 rosy breast. 



I shall never forget my first sight of a wild Bullfinch. 

 I was staying, one cold March, in a Hertfordshire village. 

 Sauntering out early, before breakfast, up the fields behind 

 the house, I suddenly came upon him. He was sitting 

 with his breast towards me, on a low bough that was white 

 with silver hoar-frost, and every twig and leaf in the bower 

 was fringed and coated with rime. A minute he remained, 

 while my memory took in the picture, and then he was 

 gone. 



" There is no shyer singer, perhaps, in our island," says 

 Mr. Dixon, "or one so readily silenced at the least dis- 

 turbance." He flies fitfully, sometimes almost stealthily. 

 He haunts shrubberies and hedgerows, and alas ! orchards 

 and fruit-gardens. It is to be feared that the hard words 

 thrown at him by the gardener are only too well justified. 

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