MOUNTAIN FINCH, OR BRAMBLING. 91 



musical, the latter somewhat resembling the untaught whistle 

 of the bullfinch. Sometimes the first syllable, chip, is re- 

 peated seven or eight times in succession, and then ends, 

 as usual in way ; but this is only in the summer. 



In the specimen mentioned above — a very fine old male — 

 no difference was to be observed in its plumage after moult- 

 ing, the new feathers shewing little or none of the lighter 

 coloured fringes usual in younger birds. 



In the severe winter of 1836 we were frequently gra- 

 tified by the sight of numbers of this species in Claremont 

 Park, where they used to assemble beneath the beech-trees 

 in search of food ; and the weather being unusually cold, they 

 were less wild than common. 



The Mountain Finch is found as far south as Rome and 

 Smyrna, in winter ; but this latter locality is, perhaps, its 

 most southern range, as we find no mention of it further. 

 In the Catalogues of Mr. Drummond, so often mentioned, 

 of the birds that inhabit or frequent the islands of Corfu 

 and Crete, this species does not occur. 



The entire length of the Mountain Finch is six inches 

 and a quarter. The wing measures from the carpus to the 

 tip, three and a quarter inches ; and the tail extends an 

 inch and a quarter beyond. The beak is six lines in length, 

 strong and sharp-pointed : the nostril is round, and partly 

 covered with stiff hairs, reflected forwards. The tail is consi- 

 derably forked, the outer feathers being a quarter of an 

 inch longer than the central ones. The tarsi measure eight 

 lines in length ; the claws are long and rather straight. 



The colours of the adult male in winter are as follows : 

 the entire head, cheeks, and upper part of the back, rich 

 velvet-black ; the feathers of the nape very narrowly bor- 

 dered with silver-grey, those of the back slightly edged 

 with rust : the lower part of the back and rump are white ; 

 the upper coverts of the tail black with grey borders ; the 



