104 SERIN FINCH. 



nest is made of grass and stalks of plants, and lined 

 with feathers and hairs. Many also use the catkins of 

 the willow upon the under layer, whilst others are 

 made almost entirely of rootlets, and some build almost 

 exclusively of the clustering blossoms of the chesnuts. 

 It lays in May five eggs, which are similar to those 

 of F. citrinetta in size and markings. The ground- 

 colour is pale green, having at the narrow end faint 

 reddish grey spots, in the middle brown, while, at the 

 greater end, the small streaks and dots are black brown." 



Savi's interesting account does not differ from those 

 I have given. It appears in Tuscany in flocks in 

 April. 



The male in breeding plumage has all the upper 

 parts olivaceous, with longitudinal black markings; the 

 vertex, throat, crop, and an imperfect collar round the 

 neck, greenish yellow; the nape mottled yellow and 

 olivaceous; the lower part of the body and flanks 

 dirty white, the latter being marked with longitudinal 

 brown spots. The wings are crossed with two narrow 

 yellowish white bands. Primaries and tail quills brown, 

 bordered lightly with dirty white; the rump is clear 

 canary yellow; beak horn brown above, whitish below; 

 feet and iris brown. In autumn the colours are less 

 pure. 



The female has less yellow in its plumage than the 

 male, more black above, and more brown spots below. 



Before the first moult the young are variegated with 

 grey and yellowish, with elongated brown markings. 



My figures of the bird and its egg are from speci- 

 mens kindly sent me by Mr. Tristram. 



The bird has also been figured by Buffon, pi. enl. 

 G58, (male;) Eoux, Ornith. Provence, pi. 94, (male and 

 female;) Bouteil, Ornith. du Dauph., pi. 34, fig. 4; 



