CHAPTER VIII. 
THE CHAFFINCH 
(Fringilla ccelebs ). 
“ Stand still a moment! 
—Spare your idle words, 
I’m the perpetual mobile of birds; 
My days are running, rippling, twittering streams; 
When fast asleep I’m all afloat in dreams.” 
Montgomery. 
Few birds unite in one and the same being so many 
good qualities as does our old friend the Chaffinch. The 
name we Germans give him is indicative of his qualifica¬ 
tions,—“Edel-fink,” or “ Noble-finch,” so called because 
he is essentially a noble bird, the type of the Finch 
family. Such a name is not given without foundation. 
The Chaffinch inhabits the whole of Central Europe, 
going far north, and in the winter travelling as far south 
as Africa. In Lapland its place is supplied by the 
Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla ). In our Fatherland 
this bird is met with everywhere,—in the mountain and 
on the plain, in woods, groves, and gardens. It is in 
reality a bird of passage, though some individuals, espe¬ 
cially males, remain with us throughout the winter. 
The hen bird always migrates, generally returning to 
us about the middle or end of February, and stopping 
