128 
BULLFINCH. 
easily frightened away. The male is less so, but it is said 
that if he be disturbed, the nest is almost always deserted, 
which is not the case when the female is alarmed. William 
Henry Rudston Read, Esq., of Hayton and York, has recorded 
in the ‘Naturalist/ old series, that, when resident at Frickley 
Hall, near Doncaster, a hen bird which built in a laurel near 
the house suffered herself to be touched .while sitting on her 
young ones, and would feed from the hand without the least 
fear. The birds are supposed to pair for life: the members 
of the family keep together until the spring. 
Male; length, from six inches to six and a half—these 
birds varying considerably in size; bill, very short, thick, 
and shining black; iris, dark brown; a few bristly feathers 
surround the base of the bill; head and crown, deep glossy 
blue black; neck on the back and nape, elegant bluish grey; 
chin, black; throat and breast, a lovely red; back, delicate 
bluish grey, on the lower part pure white. The wings 
ordinarily expand to the width of five inches and a little 
over three quarters, but sometimes more than that: the third 
quill is the longest, the second scarcely shorter, the fourth 
longer than the first, which is about the same length as the 
fifth: underneath, the wings are bluish grey; greater wing 
coverts, black, their ends white, forming a conspicuous bar 
across the wing; lesser wing coverts, delicate bluish grey; 
primaries, brownish black; secondaries, brownish black, the 
outer webs glossed with blue; some of them are occasionally 
found tinged with red; tertiaries, brownish black, tinged also 
with blue. The tail, glossy blue black, is of twelve feathers; 
underneath, it is greyish black; upper tail coverts, glossy 
blue black; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, purple 
brown; claws, brown. 
Female; length, five inches and a little over three quarters; 
iris, brown; head, not quite so deep a black as in the male; 
on the sides it is dull light chocolate brown; chin, throat, 
and breast, dull light chocolate brown, with more or less of 
a tinge of purple or red; the back has the grey tinged with 
brown, and the white on its lower part is less extensive. 
Under tail coverts, less clear white than in the male; legs and 
toes, dusky brown; claws, black. 
The young, when fledged, have the upper parts greyish 
brown, without any black on the head, and the lower parts 
yellowish brown: after the first moult, namely, in about two 
months, their distinctive garb is assumed, but it is not till 
