GREENFINCH 
101 
appearance, as all eggs, indeed, do in greater or less 
degree as they become hard-set. All the Swallow 
tribe is much infested by parasitic insects, and the 
burrows of the Sand Martin often swarm with fleas, 
which, as is often the case also with the nesting- 
holes of the Starling, may be seen about the 
openings, on sunny days, even when the birds 
themselves have not occupied their quarters for 
months past. The Sand Martin's burrows are often 
seized upon both by Starlings and Sparrows, when 
they are large enough to admit them. The Starling, 
however, does not as a rule make himself at home in 
one of these narrow holes unless it has been so much 
widened as to be unsuitable for its original owners. 
He does not yet seem to have been clearly con- 
victed of seizing an occupied hole and enlarging it 
for himself, though he has shown such remarkable 
adaptability and aggressiveness of late years that 
there could be little cause for surprise if he 
developed the habit. 
GREENFINCH. 
(^Ligurinus chloris,) 
Green Linnet. — The Finches form a well- 
marked group of birds, including the Linnets and 
Sparrows, as well as the domesticated Canary, 
