334 
STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
streak is seen ; but the spots are the rule, and the streaks the 
exception. 
Altogether, it is hardly possible to find a more beautiful 
group than is made by a pair of Goldfinches, their nest, and 
eggs. 
The nest of the Bullfinch (. Pyrrhula vulgaris) is unlike 
that of the goldfinch, though it is sometimes found in similar 
localities. This bird seems to be rather capricious in its 
ideas of nest-making, sometimes preferring trees, and sometimes 
building in shrubs. 
There was a little spinney which I once knew, in which 
were any number of Bullfinch-nests, the underwood being very 
attractive to the birds. All the nests were built very low, seldom 
more than four feet from the ground* and, to the best of my 
recollection, were placed among the branches of hazel and dog- 
wood. The nest of the Bullfinch is by no means so neat and 
smooth as that of the goldfinch, but is made in a much looser 
manner ; the foundation being formed of slender twigs, usually 
those of the birch, and the inner wall of the nest woven of 
delicate fibrous roots. This wall is flimsy in structure, rather 
shallow, and neither so deep nor so round as that of the 
goldfinch. The lining is made of similar materials, but of a 
finer kind. 
The quantity of sticks used as the foundation for this nest 
varies according to the kind of branch on which it is placed ; 
for when the bird selects a forked twig, such as that of the hazel 
or dogwood, it uses a considerable quantity of sticks ; but when 
it places its nest on the nearly horizontal spray of the fir, it finds 
a sufficient foundation ready made, and only just lays a few 
twigs to fill up a blank space. The egg of the Bullfinch is 
something like that of the goldfinch, but larger and more con- 
spicuously spotted. 
In some works upon the eggs and nests of birds, the Bull- 
finch is said to build in bushes of considerable height and size. 
Now, this is not necessarily the case, inasmuch as the spinney 
which has just been mentioned was composed entirely of trees:- 
