BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
THE CHAFFINCH. Fringillu ccelehs, Linnseus. 
Local names— Shelfie ; Shilfa ; Snabby. 
' We laid a strong framework and fixed it so fast, 
lhat though the tree rocked it resisted the blast. 
We made it of mosses all daintily twined 
With wool and with feathers 'twas cushioned and lined • 
1 picked her gray Uchens to match the tree stem 
And neatly she finished the outside with them. 
Then, hftmg her eyes to the blue sky above. 
We entered it singing, and filled it with love. 
Car-oo, tweet, tweet, tweet. 
Made by you, tweet, tweet, tweet. 
Was ever a nest that was builded so neat f " 
Miss Isa Gillon-Fergusson.-" The Chafmch^s Love Song:^ 
f!l»77i^TT" "^^t^ng even in the upland woods and bushes • 
found m flock, m winter, often at the most isolated homesteads. ' 
The immigration of this species which in autumn is observed 
on the east coast of Great Britain, is not so much felt here 
and at this season the sexes often separate into different 
flocks. It IS owing to this partial and temporary separation 
that the name coelehs, or bachelor, was used by Linn^us 
m reference to the deserted males."* 
The Chaffinch does great damage to newly-sown seeds 
m the autumn, and we read in 1832, that it was generaUy 
considered a most pernicious bird in gardens, and was 
treated accordinglyf ; but Howard Saunders wrote in 
1899, " both young and old feed largely on insects and the 
seeds of weeds ... and ... may be considered as one 
ot the gardener's best friends."} 
From more than one personal observation, I regard the 
number of days required for the incubation of the eggs of 
this species as twelve. 
* Man. Brit. Birds, 1899, p. 183. 
t Mag. Nat. Hist., 1832, Vol. V., p. 65. 
t Man. Brit. Birds, 1899, p. 184. 
