Some British 
Finches. 
( 1 5 2 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
nest will be found in many positions, 
but the Greenfinch dearly loves a good 
thick bush for the purpose. The eggs, 
of which there are generally five or six, 
are sometimes very round and sometimes 
very pointed, and of a light green colour 
spotted with red, and this usually round 
the larger end. He is, like the Finches 
already dealt with, a good cage bird, 
and has often been termed the boy’s pet. 
I have seen great numbers of this Finch 
sold at auction for a few coppers, which 
proves his plentifulness, whilst his hardi¬ 
ness makes him in every respect suitable 
for domestication. The Greenfinch also 
commands a place on the show bench, 
and when trained for showing is indeed 
a lovely bird and greatly admired. We 
now come to the:—'. 
Hawfinch (Coccothraustes Vulgaris). 
Known locally as Common Gros¬ 
beak, Cherry Finch, Cobble Bird, 
H aw Grosbeak, Chuck, etc. This 
Finch is not nearly so common as the 
Greenfinch, although I understand he 
is on the increase. Like the Gold¬ 
finch and Bullfinch, the Hawfinch is 
most conspicuous about the head, the 
bill appearing to the casual observer as 
being too big and unwieldy for its 
bearer, but to my mind it tends to give 
him a majestic appearance. The Haw¬ 
finch cannot possibly be mistaken for 
any other Finch or even British breed 
ing bird, and is the largest of his family. 
As already stated his outstanding feature 
is his enormous bill. The throat 
feathers round the base of the bill are 
black; the cheeks and crown, dark or 
reddish-brown; nape, ashy-grey; back, 
dark or reddish-brown; and the wings 
are also black. The Hawfinch mates 
about the beginning of May, and builds, 
unlike the Greenfinch, a very tidy nest 
of twigs and lichens, lined with hair and 
small roots. The nest is usually placed 
on the under branches of trees, in 
bushes, and at times the ivy growing 
round the trees. Three to five is the 
usual clutch, and the eggs are greenish- 
grey, spotted with brown and streaked 
with black. The Hawfinch is in no way 
a songster, having merely a low, plain¬ 
tive note. 
No Triend of the Gardener's. 
Like the Bullfinch and Greenfinch die 
Hawfinch has incurred the gardener’s 
deadly enmity, and the severe punish¬ 
ment meted out to it is, I believe, the 
cause of the bird’s shyness, and this can 
be easily understood. The gardener 
maintains that the Hawfinch destroys 
his peas, cherries, etc., which is quite 
true, for I have seen many rows of pro¬ 
mising peas destroyed by the Hawfinch 
in a few hours, his great bill doing great 
destruction among the ripening shoots; 
but we must not overlook the fact that 
the Hawfinch feeds its young almost ex¬ 
clusively on insects, thus proving of ser¬ 
vice to the agriculturist and gardener. 
The Hawfinch also includes in his diet 
berries and seeds, such as beech, yew, 
hawthorn, and hornbeam. 
As a cage bird the Hawfinch is not of 
much account, but of late years it has 
come to the front as a show bird, many 
splendid specimens being exhibited at 
the various shows throughout the season. 
We now come to the:— 
Brambling (Fringilla Mintifringilla). 
This bird, called also Bramble Finch, 
almost defies description, being strangely 
spangled indeed. My readers, however, 
will easily recognise him by his being 
about the size of the commonest of the 
Finches-—the Chaffinch—but stoutish, 
with the head and back of neck mottled 
in black and grey, breast, throat, and 
chin yellow fawn, with pale yellow on 
the under parts. The rump is white, 
and this is very noticeable when the bird 
is in flight. 
A Winter Visitant. 
He only visits us in numbers from the 
north during hard frost or when severe 
winter weather is prolonged, thus driving 
him south in search of food. When 
foraging for food he congregates with 
the Chaffinches, Linnets, Redpolls, and 
the like. He is a very shy bird, and 
takes flight easily, and when disturbed 
will almost invariably make for the 
shelter of trees. Of his breeding habits 
we know very little or nothing, coming, 
as he does, from Northern Europe, and 
is of very little use as a cage bird, 
although sometimes kept in confinement. 
