The Chaffinch. 



food which a single pair and their progeny will consume 

 is considerable. Stevenson, in his " Birds of Norfolk,"' 

 writes : " As soon as the young are hatched there are no< 

 birds so assiduous in their useful occupation of clearing our 

 gardens from insects as the chaffinches.'' Such small insects 

 as aphides and Psyllce are taken, as well as the caterpillars 

 of the several moths that sometimes entirely strip fruit trees 

 of leaves and blossoms. The destructive larvae or grubs of 

 the gooseberry sawfly [Ncmatui yihesii) are cleared off quickly 

 by the old chaffinches and their fledglings. It was stated b^ 

 several farmers that the chaffinch was very useful in clearing 

 off quantities of the caterpillars of the Diamond Back Moth,, 

 which were so destructive to swedes, turnips, and cabbages,, 

 in 1 89 1. Selby speaks of its assiduity during the autumn in 

 devouring the females of a large species of aphis (probably 

 Lachnus pm f] that infests the trunks and branches of the larck 

 and various kinds of fir. It not only destroys insects in 

 their larval state, but it catches flies, moths, and beetles,, 

 upon the wing. In short, it is almost exclusively insecti- 

 vorous from May until September, and during the rest of the 

 year it subsists upon seeds of weeds, berries, and any grain 

 that it can obtain, as well as insects in the egg or pupal 

 state which its sharp eyes readily discover in their quarters 

 of hibernation. In his valuable work on the ''Birds of 

 Somerset," Cecil Smith quotes the following passages from 

 the Zoologist : — ''So large is the number of seeds of weeds 

 that the chaffinch consumes in the course of the year, more 

 particularly of groundsel, chickweed, and buttercup, that he 

 without doubt more than compensates for all his misdeeds^ 

 and as his summer food partially, and that of his young ex- 

 clusively, consists of caterpillars and other noxious insects^ 

 he is assurely the gardener's best friend." 



The chaffinch, " chinker," or " pink," so called on account of 

 its peculiar note of " chink chink," or "pink pink," which it 

 utters, especially in the breeding season and v/hen ir is dis- 

 turbed, is a permanent habitant of the United Kingdom. 

 The male is very slightly larger than the female. It is a 

 pretty bird, having much variety in its colouring. The under- 

 part of its body from the base of the beak to the flanks is a 



