418 BRITISH BIRDS. 



food. Ticks on sheep are greedily devoured by them. On the 

 other hand, they cause much harm in orchards, cherries being 

 particularly damaged by them, as well as other soft fruit. On 

 the whole, they do much more good than harm. Amongst the 

 insects they are partial to are grasshoppers, wireworm, larvae of 

 moths, weevils, and plant-lice ; slugs and worms are also eaten. 



Finches and Buntings (FringilliDje). 



The Finches and Buntings form the family Fringillidfe of 

 the Passeres, the former being included in the sub-family 

 FrinriiHinii^, the latter in the sub-family Emherizimn. 



The Finches are remarkable for their short, thick, and power- 

 ful beak, the upper and lower mandibles being about the same 

 size, so that the beak when closed forms a short thick cone. 

 All the Finches are small, great numbers of species being found. 

 The food consists largely of seeds, grain, and fruits ; but some 

 are large insect-eaters, and all' more or less feed their young on 

 insect life. 



The Buntings have both mandibles incurved at the edges, 

 the upper one being slightly smaller and witli a hard bony 

 knob. 



The following are the more important Britisli Friiuiillinih' : 

 the Bullfinch (Piji-rhiiJa), Linnets (Acanfh/'s), Chaffinch (Frin- 

 fjilla), Sparrows (Passv-r), the Goldfinch (Carthielis), and the 

 Greenfinch ami Hawfinch {Ligurlnns and C'oi-i'ofhi-au>tfeA. 



Tlie genus Pi/rrJiii/a, which contains our common bullfinch, 

 is characterised by the hard short bill, which bulges at the 

 sides, the upper mandible being longer than the lower and thus 

 overhanging its point. 



The Bnlljiiii-li {Pijrrhula mropica) is one of the most de- 

 structive birds. Handsome as it is, we cannot say a word 

 against its destruction, for the damage caused by Pip-rhula 

 niropira in orchards and gardens is often tremendous. In 

 the spring they commence to attack the blossom-buds of the 



