fpring it devours art immenfe number of caterpillars, feeding 
the young with them and other fmall infe£ls till they are able 
to provide for themfelves ; and thus, perhaps, fully com- 
penfate for the injury committed at other feafons. 
The nefl of this fpecies is worthy of our admiration as a 
m^fter- piece of elegance and neatnefs ; in choice of the ma- 
terials, it is guided by an inftin6l wifely beftowed by its all- 
bountiful Creator, that points out fuch as may tend to its 
greater fecurity : thus when the neft is placed in the fork of 
2 branch, or againft the fide of a mofs-grown tree, the exterior 
of this comfortable little manfion is thickly ftudded with mofs 
and lichens of a correfponding colour ; when it is built in an 
ivy-bufh, it is compofed of green mofs, which aflimilating 
in colour with the furrounding obje6ls, renders it more fecurc 
by being lefs liable to obfervation. The fabric is compofed 
of mofs, wool, and hair, interwoven with feathers, the foft 
parts of which are left proje6ling from the fide as a lining. 
It lays five or fix eggs of a pale purplifli blufh colour, 
beautifully freckled and ftreaked with dark purple ; the eggs 
are not all marked alike, feme being nearly covered with the 
dark colour, whilft others have only a few ftreaks fparingly 
diftribiited at the larger end. The young keep together till 
after the firft moult, before which ^ime they are all feathered 
like the female. 
Chaffinches remain with us throughout the year ; but in 
fome other parts of Europe the fexes feparate ; the females 
at the decline of the year repair fouthward, but the males 
being more robuft, brave the inclemency of the northern 
winters*. 
