brambling. 
F RING ILL A M ON TIFRINGIL L A. 
Tiiol gh an annual visitor m considerable numbers to our shores, I never remarked this species on passage 
1 \ and th<3 ™ gS rGCeived fr0m the i^hips off the cast coast during the seasons 
of 1872 and 1873 dul not exceed a score. It is possible that fine and clear weather may have prevailed at the 
time of their migration during these years; and under such circumstances but few would be injured by 
striking the lights. Still, as I was able to gather little or no information concerning this species from 
the crews of any of the vessels, it is most probable the main flocks of Bramblings make the land 
towards the northern portion of the Scotch coast. Their early arrival in the Highlands, a month or so 
at least before any numbers show themselves in England, also points to the same conclusion. 
All parts of the Highlands (with the exception of the high ranges) appear to be occasionally visited • 
1 have found large flocks in many of the wildest glens. According to my own experience, they seldom 
stray far up the mountain-side, resorting on their first arrival to the stubble-fields and being especially 
partial to the neighbourhood of beech trees. On the approach of severe weather they betake themselves to the 
farmyards; and by far the greater number eventually move south to avoid the protracted cold and the 
hardships of a winter in the barren northern glens. 
Stragglers and small parties may be seen almost every season on the eastern and southern coast, and, 
indeed, m all parts of the country, though the immense gatherings that arc occasionally met with do 
not put in an appearance with the same regularity. Hard frost, however, generally brings considerable 
flocks to the southern counties, where they join company with Einches and Linnets on the stubbles and 
waste lands. I have now and then observed them moving towards the west with the multitudes of Larks 
and other small birds that pass along the Sussex coast after a heavy fall of snow. I did not remark that 
Bramblings were particularly numerous in the severe weather of January 1807, when Fieldfares and 
Redwings were far more abundant than in any subsequent year. In January 1871 these birds arrived 
in countless swarms, many of the fields along the coast being completely covered when a flock alighted — 
their bright colours, shown up as they flew past the snow-drifts, being particularly attractive. During 
the terrible hurricane in January 1881 large flights again appeared in the south; and on this occasion 
they suffered excessively from the continued inclemency of the weather. Hundreds collected round the 
houses, eagerly availing themselves of any scraps of food provided for the starving swarms of pensioners ; 
while here and there a worn-out traveller, numbed and helpless, would creep into some sheltered corner 
and, puffing out its feathers, quietly await its fate. The numbers of small birds that perished during 
this storm could scarcely be credited, except by those who witnessed the immense quantities of dead 
bodies (collected together in many instances to the extent of several hundreds) that were exposed to 
view as the snow melted. 
I obtained a specimen in January 1871 that exhibited a black or rather a dark greyish-coloured throat, the 
