HAWFINCH. 
269 
of oak, honeysuckle, &c. lined with fine roots 
and a little hair, the whole very loosely put to- 
gether. The eggs, from four to six, are of a pale 
olive green, spotted with black, and irregulary 
marked with dusky brown. During winter they 
congregate in flocks, but at pairing time separate 
again. The song is of little compass ; and Mr 
Doubleday states that, like the Linnets about 
the season of separation, they congregate on 
a tree, and utter a few notes in a soft tone, 
having some resemblance to those of a Bullfinch. 
According to Mr Yarrell, however, it possesses 
considerable imitative powers, for he states, on 
the authority of Mr Bartlet, that a female “ sung 
the notes of the Linnet. But being afterwards 
hung out of doors, it learned to imitate the song 
of a blackbird.”* 
The occurrence of the Hawfinch in other parts 
of England, so far as our information goes, is 
confined to straggling parties or individuals, but 
the attention of our ornithologists may perhaps 
discover other breeding stations besides Epping 
and Windsor, and the vicinity of Wolverhampton, 
where we have also records of its nidification. 
In the north it is a straggler, but has been 
killed and seen in the counties of Durham and 
Cumberland, reaching across the border to 
Dumfriesshire ; farther north in Britain we do 
not know of its occurrence. In Ireland we have 
the authority of Mr Thompson for its occasional 
appearance. In the north of Europe it appears 
* Yarrell, British Birds, i. p. 486. 
