396 BRITISH BIKDS. 



mealy redpoll is almost confined to the north, but flocks some- 

 times appear as far south as the Channel. 



The Chaffinch {Fringilla coelebs). — This is one of our most 

 beautiful finches, yet a veritable scourge to the gardener and 

 even farmer. In the male the crown of the head and nape of 

 the neck are French-grey, the rump green, the back chestnut 

 and green, the breast reddish-pink, turning to white on the 

 abdomen ; the black wings have two pure white bands, and the 

 tail is black in colour, except the two grey middle feathers, 

 and a broad white band on the outer two. The female is ashy- 

 brown and olive-green, the lower parts being paler and the 

 bands less distinct than in the male. The chaffinch builds 

 a beautiful compact nest of moss and lichen, often on hchen- 

 covered trees, so much resembling the tree iu appearance as to he 

 distinguished with difficulty. Two broods are often produced in 

 the year. In the winter they unite in flocks, the males and 

 females separately, the males being most abundant in northern 

 counties at this time of year, the females apparently going 

 southwards. They feed upon all kinds of seeds, especially 

 those of an oily nature. As soon as the garden seeds are 

 in — such as turnip, beetroot, mustard and cress, and radishes — 

 they soon go if the chaffinch finds them out. They also clear 

 off the young shoots of plants and flowers, and even destroy 

 germinating grain. On the other hand, they eat numbers of 

 weed-seeds on the stubbles, especially the pernicious charlock, 

 and feed their young on insects of various kinds, such as 

 plant-lice, as well as devouring some themselves. On the 

 whole, the chaffinch does as much good as harm, if we 

 could only keep it awa}^ from our seeds — an almost im- 

 possible task. 



The Sparrows {Passer). — There are two British sparrows, 

 the House-Sparrow (P. domesticus) and the Tree-Sparrow (P. 

 montanus). These two can be distinguished by the ear-region of 

 the house-sparrow being bright grey, whilst that of the tree- 

 sparrow is deep black ; the former has also a reddish streak 



