BULLFINCH. 
PYRRHULA VULGARIS. 
Woodlands or country where thickets and dense hedgerows abound being generally looked upon as the 
situations to which the Bullfinch resorts, I was naturally somewhat surprised, one wintry day in December 
1807, to meet with a flock of these birds near the summit of one of the high mountains that form the 
boundary between Eannoch and Glenlyon in the north-west of Perthshire. A position had just been 
taken up to await the appearance of the white hares which beaters had been despatched to drive, 
when my attention was attracted by a party of eight or ten small birds flitting along the ridge of the 
hill. At the first glance through the mist I thought the wanderers must be Snow-Buntings ; a 
moment later they alighted close at hand, when, in spite of the drifting fog, no doubt could be entertained 
as to the species. After remaining for a few minutes perched on the large blocks of stone, or searching 
busily among the heather-stalks and small creeping plants where free from snow, they moved further 
west, settling on the bare limbs of a straggling patch of stunted and weather-beaten piues. The sexes 
were equally represented in this small flock, the bright colours on the breasts of the males being shown 
off to the fullest advantage against the dark rocks and dead stumps from which the snow had drifted. 
During summer and autumn I repeatedly observed Bullfinches in the wooded glens throughout this 
locality, for the most part resorting to the plantations of birch or hazel in which their young were 
reared, and where the families remained till late in autumn. The more sheltered portions of this wild 
tract of country were seldom deserted even in the depth of winter. While passing through the birch- 
woods in pursuit of Black Game after Christmas, I occasionally detected their note ; and in answer to 
the call, the whole number, unless alarmed by a shot, would follow along the hill-side, flitting from tree to 
tree till the end of the cover was reached *. 
The Bullfinch appears to be distributed over the British Islands from north to south ; owing to the 
nature of the country, it is more plentiful in the southern counties of England than on the barren moorlands 
of the north. Throughout the east of Sussex I remarked that this species has of late decreased considerably. 
In the neighbourhood of Dattle there were, some thirty years ago, several extensive plantations of larch 
which proved a great attraction to these birds, flocks of from six or eight up to a dozen or more being 
not unfrcquently observed clinging to the waving boughs. Even in this densely wooded district it is at 
the present time unusual to meet with parties exceeding four or five in number. 
There is no denying the fact that, during spring, Bullfinches are occasionally guilty of destroying 
the buds of fruit-trees ; it is, however, questionable whether their visits to the gardens cause any great 
amount of damage. This subject has been so fully discussed by various writers that any remarks I 
could make concerning the depredations committed, or the benefits conferred, by this species would be 
superfluous. 
* Tho plaintive note of the Bullfinch is familiar to all ; no bird responds more readily to an imitation of its call. 
