378 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
imitative talent, becoming excessively tame and confiding, and having been known 
to reproduce the song of the canary. Yarrell states that the greenfinch is a late 
breeder, but while fresh eggs may sometimes be found in a nest as late as the month 
of September, we once saw a newly-fledged greenfinch taking short flights from 
bough to bough as early as the 19th May. The greenfinch builds a coarse, untidy 
nest of fibrous roots, moss, and wool, lined with finer roots, horse-hair, and a few 
feathers. A remarkable combination of two nests of the greenfinch built on a single 
platform, and placed in a large ornamental heath, is recorded by Gurney. The 
greenfinch is fond of building in the neighbourhood of water, hence the young birds 
occasionally tumble out of the nest and are drowned. The eggs are white, spotted 
with reddish brown and grey. The greenfinch not unfrequently pairs with the canary 
in confinement; and in a wild state occasionally mates with the goldfinch. The 
hybrids resulting from the latter cross most resemble the greenfinch in shape and 
colour, but the head and wings never fail to show the goldfinch blood. The green¬ 
finch also interbreeds with the linnet, and in confinement has produced offspring 
by pairing with the bullfinch and twite. During the autumn greenfinches range 
the fields in large flocks, feeding on the seeds of wild mustard and many other pests 
of the husbandman. The male greenfinch is olive-yellow above, overshaded with 
ashy grey; the under surface of the body being yellow. The South European form 
is smaller and brighter than the birds which breed in the British Isles and Northern 
Europe. Yellow, black, white, and cinnamon varieties of the greenfinch have come 
under our notice. 
The hawfinches are readily distinguished by their large and 
Hawfinches. . . J J ® 
clumsy bills, which are adapted to enable them to feed upon hard 
kernels. Hawfinches are found in suitable localities throughout Europe and Siberia. 
The Japanese form is paler and lighter in colour than the European (Coccothraustes 
vulgaris ) ; while Hume’s hawfinch ( C. humei ) is an Indian species, differing from 
the European birds in having a lighter and less richly-coloured head, and by the 
sides of the body being pale tawny or orange-brown instead of vinaceous. The 
hawfinch is a well-known bird in many parts of Europe, and is locally distributed 
over England, although rarely visiting Scotland, and uncommon in Ireland. 
It frequents the skirts of forests, especially where hornbeam flourishes, since it 
feeds on the seeds of that tree. Seldom seen in open country, it resides in 
gardens and orchards, especially during the summer months; its flight being 
rapid and undulating. The male should be seen in bright sunshine, if his beauty 
of plumage is to be appreciated; the light being admirably adapted to burnish 
up his deep brown back and blue-black wings. The hawfinch is a shy bird, and 
seldom courts attention; when alarmed, its first action is to crouch close to the 
branch upon which it happens to be perching, so as, if possible, to escape un¬ 
noticed. Mr. Seebohm remarks that “ the hawfinch is not much of a songster. 
It has few notes, which can scarcely be called more than a low chatter. There is 
nothing very striking in its performance; but when several are twittering away 
together the general effect is very pleasant. Its call-note is said to resemble the 
well-known zh of the greenfinch. The hawfinch pairs about the middle of April, 
and its nest is rarely built before the trees are in full foliage. The site of the nest 
differs considerably. A favourite place is in the apple or pear-trees in an orchard, 
