Class II. BULFINCH. 43! 



by the superior blackness of its crown, and by the 

 rich crimson which adorns the cheeks, breast, 

 belly, and throat of the male ; those of the 

 female being of a dirty color. The bill is black, 

 short, and very thick ; the head large ; the 

 hind part of the neck and the back grey ; 

 the coverts of the wings black; the lower cross- 

 ed with a white line ; the quil feathers dusky, 

 but part of their inner webs white; the coverts 

 of the tail and vent feathers white, the tail 

 black. 



In the spring these birds frequent our gar- 

 dens, and are very destructive to fruit-trees* 

 by eating the tender buds. They breed about 

 the latter end of May, or beginning of June, 

 and are seldom seen at that time near houses, 

 as they chuse some very retired place to breed 

 in. These birds are sometimes wholly black ; 

 I have heard of a male bulfinch which had 

 changed its colors after it had been taken in full 

 feather, and with all its fine tints. The first 

 year it began to assume a dull hue, blackening 

 every year, till in the fourth it attained the 

 deepest degree of that color. This was com- 

 municated to me by the Reverend Mr. White 

 of Selborne. Mr. Morton, in his History of 

 Northamptonshire* gives another instance of 



* Page 437- 



