SCAKLET BULLFINCH. 
71 
bourliood of dwellings, where it can he sheltered 
among the shrubs. It is very fond of moist situations, 
and is frequently found among the bushes on the banks 
of rivers, lakes, and ponds, where it may be seen on 
the willows or reeds. 
Xaumann has given a very complete account of the 
bird, from wdiich I have gathered the following: — 
“For several years, in the early spring, a pair of 
these birds were seen near Breslau, among the wil- 
lows and reeds of a swampy district. The male and 
female w'ere always near together, and the former 
sung gaily. They were both killed at a single shot, 
but the female was not found. The male is now in 
the museum at Berlin. Later another pair w'ere also 
shot. 
“This bird does not, according to my observation, 
like large thick woods. I have seen it where there 
was none at all, namely, at Sylt, in Jutland. In one 
part of this island there are no other species of trees 
but small thorn bushes. 
“In the northern narrow part of the island, where, 
between high sand downs, a narrow creek runs into 
the land, is a little thicket surrounded by a low earthen 
wall, in which is the renowned duck decoy. The 
ponds, canals, and the decoy man’s house are all 
surrounded by alder trees and thorn bushes. There 
is also a thick reed-bank, about ten feet high, which 
is all the protection that the neighbouring downs re- 
ceive from the devastating north-west storms. Altogether 
it is not more than a hundred paces in circuit. The 
wood is quite stunted, yet it is, for such a neighbour- 
hood, a very interesting spotj and for me it became 
still more so when I myself met with a Scarlet 
Bullfinch, which I had never seen before in its free 
