114 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
weeds, with a lining of feathers, form the usual 
materials, but there is often a considerable sprink- 
ling of such miscellaneous rubbish as the House 
Sparrow loves. The four to six eggs are slightly 
smaller than an average House Sparrow's ; they 
have the same greenish-white ground colour, but 
the markings are, as a rule, distinctly browner in 
colour than any but a very brown variety of the 
House Sparrow's. Generally they are thickly 
freckled, but sometimes have more open mottlings 
and spots. It is unsafe to attempt to identify the 
eggs without a clear sight of the bird, in spite of 
their general difference of appearance from those of 
the commoner species. 
CHAFFINCH. 
[Fringilla coeleh.) 
Twink, Spink. — One of the commonest and 
prettiest of British birds, found in almost every 
corner of the kingdom. Though Chaffinches are 
always to be seen in even the hardest weather, a 
great deal of migration goes on during the winter 
half of the year, and it is to the frequent habit of 
the cock and hen birds separating for these wander- 
ings into separate flocks that the species owes its 
Latin name of coelehs^ or "Bachelor Finch." 
The hen bird, especially at the breeding season, is 
