HAWFINCH. 
205 
INSESSORES. FRINGILLIDJE. 
CO NIRO ST RES. 
HAWFINCH. 
COCCOTHRAUSTES VULGARIS. 
PLATE LII. FIGS. II. AND III. 
Mr. Henry Doubleday, of Epping, had for some years 
suspected that the Hawfinch must breed in the neighbour¬ 
ing forest, having occasionally seen the birds, and also 
some eggs of a species then unknown to him ; and to his 
assiduity, ornithologists are indebted for the knowledge 
that this species is indigenous in the country; to his 
liberality, I am indebted for the nest and eggs of this 
rare bird. The nest is remarkably shallow, and care¬ 
lessly put together, being scarcely deeper than that of 
the ring-dove ; in materials it resembles that of the bull¬ 
finch, without its nicety of form; it is chiefly of sticks, 
interspersed with pieces of white lichen, and is loosely 
lined with roots. Mr. Doubleday has himself favoured 
the public with his observations on the subject, and 
these I copy from the Magazine of Zoology and Botany: 
“Their extreme shyness has, no doubt, contributed to 
keep us in ignorance of their habits and economy; in 
this trait they exceed any land bird with which I am 
acquainted, and in open places it is almost impossible to 
approach them within gunshot. About the middle ot 
April they pair, and in a week or two commence nidifica- 
tion. The situation of the nest is various, but it is most 
