IO 
British Birds. 
The Greenfinch. 
It is a ground-loving species, 
and in North America it is 
considered to be a most useful 
bird, as it feeds upon insects 
and worms, and does but little 
damage to crops. Its nest is 
placed on the ground and has 
a dome of grass, so that it 
is generally well concealed. 
The eggs are pale greenish 
white with brown or grey 
spots and blotches. 
The Greenfinch 
( Ligurinus cliloris). The Finches are numerously represented 
as a family in Great Britain, and we have a good many resident 
species, of which the Greenfinch isone of the best known. The bri ght 
colours are confined to the male, the hen bird, as is usual in this family, being much 
more dingily coloured than her mate. The Greenfinch is found all over Europe, and as 
far east as Central Asia, and a considerable migration takes place to the British Islands, 
the birds which arrive from the Continent being generally of a brighter and purer colour 
than our own resident birds. Like most Finches, the Greenfinch feeds its young upon 
insects, but in the autumn and winter it consorts with others of its kind and feeds 
principally on grain, visiting the fallow-fields and the stock-yards for this purpose. 
The young, when brought up from the nest, are easily tamed, and make amusing little 
pets, but they are dangerous denizens of an aviary, as their powerful bills inflict pecks 
upon their weaker companions which have generally a fatal result. The nest is often a 
rather large struc- 
THE FINCHES. 
Family 
FRINGILLID/E. 
ture, not very care- 
fully constructed, 
and built of moss 
with a few twigs or 
roots outside, and 
lined with horse- 
hair. The eggs are 
four to six in num- 
ber, and are bluish- 
white with blackish 
spots or lines. 
T he Hawfinch 
(Coccoth raustes 
coccothraust es). 
The Hawfinch. 
