466 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



only eat the kernels, they have an advantage, devouring what other 

 hirds discard. They are also better off than they used to be for 

 nesting-sites, the large orchards in fruit-growing districts afford- 

 ing them ample shelter. A very large proportion of the nests I 

 have found have been in apple-trees, which seems to have been 

 the experience of others ; and, as a rule, the nests are not far 

 from the ground, and in their size vary to an unusual extent ; 

 some, even where I have known the exact spot, being exceedingly 

 hard to see, on account of their being so lightly built ; others are 

 large bulky nests, which you can hardly help detecting at once 

 when near the tree ; but the orchards are large, and therefore 

 this species has a good chance of rearing its young in safety. It 

 is difficult to forecast how this will affect other species, but the 

 Hawfinch is a pugnacious as well as a very strong bird, and if 

 this rate of increase is maintained — as there is every reason 

 to suppose it will be — then some other weaker species already 

 struggling with the physical conditions of life is bound to 

 suffer ; but the result to farmers and fruit-growers is very 

 apparent. At first sight it appears unlikely and almost in- 

 credible that a few Hawfinches could do much damage to a 

 field of peas; but if anyone has any doubt on this point, let 

 him watch the birds at work, and see how a family takes up its 

 abode in a field, and how from early in the morning until late at 

 night they are hard at work splitting up the pods ; when I think 

 even the most incredulous will be compelled to admit that at 

 least a great deal of damage is done. It remains, however, to 

 the unlucky persons who possess cherry-orchards, and look to 

 them as a source of income, to suffer most from the depredations 

 of this bird, although probably few of them are aware of the fact. 

 For some time I looked upon Hawfinches as birds that did little 

 harm during the mouth of May ; as a rule, they appeared to me 

 to feed entirely on the seeds of the oak at this time of year, but I 

 discovered my mistake when looking for the nests. Having 

 watched the birds for some time in and out of a cherry orchard 

 on the borders of a forest between the hours of three and five in 

 the morning, I concluded that they must be nesting in it ; I 

 therefore searched every tree, and, having failed to find any trace 

 of a nest, I thought it best to wait and see for what reason the 

 birds visited the orchard. This I did, with the result that before 



