ird week 1 ay; 3 as they are able to provide for
“The young are hatched about the third week in May; and as soon as they I
Premeclice they unite with the old birds, in flocks varying in number from fifteen or twenty to one hundred,
; ; . ° ae ae . a J ;
or even to two hundred individuals. In this manner they remain through the winter, feeding on the hornbeam-

seeds which have fallen to the ground, the newly cracked shells of which are to be seen in abundance at their

 

haunts; the birds only separate at the approach of the breeding-season. I pallor the male has no song mom
notice ; in warm days in March I have heard them, when a number have been ue together on a tree, uttering
a few notes in a soft tone, bearing some resemblance to those of the Bullfinch.’

So close does this bird approach to London, that Mr. Yarrell mentions he has ae it io ve killed at
Notting Hill; and Mr. Jesse states that it breeds at Roehampton. My own ST it has been
chiefly in the charming woods of the Duchess of Sutherland, at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, and the con-
tiguous beautiful gardens of Formosa. As at Epping, the bird may here be seen at all seasons, but in far
less numbers. I might mention many other localities where it may be found, smn as the pleasure-grounds
of W. Wells, Esq., at Redleaf in Kent, Windsor Great Park, &c.; but it will be sufficient to say that wherever
there are trees bearing its favourite food, there will the bird be found, especially in the midland counties of
England.

The Hawfinch is a stout, thick-set, and inelegant bird, its inelegance being rendered more conspicuous by
the enormous size of its bill and head when compared with that of its body and short square tail; still Nature |
has attempted some degree of ornamentation in the purplish-green colouring and in the truncate and partially
curled form of its secondaries; the form of these feathers at their extremities is indeed very remarkable, and
not to be seen in any other bird. It bears confinement well, and, according to Bechstein, “ will feed upon
rape and hemp-seed directly they are caught, and should be chiefly fed upon those seeds, with fruit and green
food.” Montagu states that even in winter, during mild weather, he has heard the Hawfinch sing sweetly,

 

in low and plaintive notes; and Mr. Selby thinks it probable that it sings well in the pairing-season ; but

Bechstein says, ‘‘ For my part I cannot endure the unpleasant shrill call of its 2p, which it incessantly utters ;
nevertheless its song, which consists of a light jingle with some shrill and harsh notes like i777, is agreeable
enough to many amateurs.”

The sexes, when adult, vary in the colouring of their plumage, and they are also subject to a seasonal
change in the hue of the bill, that organ being nearly white in winter, while in summer it is of rich blue,
sometimes uniform, at others relieved by a grey band round the base of the mandibles; the rich blue colouring
is common to both sexes, but the under mandible of the female is frequently white, while the upper one is
blue; the legs are either fleshy white or reddish flesh-colour, and the irides are greyish white.

The young Hawfinch, just before it is able to fly, has the bill light olive inclining to pea-green, with a tinge
of orange at the base, the legs purplish brown, and the irides dark brown. At this age the wings and tail
have begun to assume their adult colouring ; but the plumage of the body has a very mottled appearance, a
considerable amount of grey being mixed up with the commencement of the colours of maturity; the cheeks
and throat are stained witl yellow, and the tips of the breast-feathers are marked with brown. A young
bird in this state was taken in Mr. De Vitré’s garden of Formosa, in Berkshire, on the 11th of June, 1859.

The young of the first year, when fully as large as the adult, has the bill of

a nearly uniform light-purplish
flesh-colour, the irides brown, and the tarsi and toes pinky-red.

The assumption of the adult colouring has
further advanced, but the body still wears a mottled appearance; the bl

show, and the cheeks and breast are of a still richer yellow. A
oth of August.

ack feathers of the throat begin to
specimen thus coloured was taken on the

The male has the forehead light greyish buff gradually
of the head, and occiput; at the back of the neck a broa
coverts deep chocolate-brown ; lower part of the b

deepening into the rich chestnut of the crown, sides
d collar of grey; back, scapularies, and lesser wing-

ack and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-brown ; frontal half
of the greater wing-coverts greyish white, the posterior half pale brown

black, their inner webs crossed near the middle by a broad m
glossed with green at the tip of the same web; secondaries

middle with a broad mark of pure white ; tail black, largely tipped on the inner webs with white, the black of
the apical portion of the outer web gradually becoming paler as the feathers approach the centre; lores, a
narrow line down each side of the bill, and a large patch on the centre of the throat velvety black; cheeks

io 24 rer . . sfon 7 . YANK: = a = e S s
light orange-brown ; under surface vinaceous brown, fading into greyish white in the vent and under tail-
coverts.

3; Spurious wing and primaries deep

ark of pure white, and the third and fourth

urplish green, their inner webs crossed near the
5

The female differs in havi Ae Ane 2 :
ale differs in having only a trace of the chestnut colouring of the head on the occiput, the grey

collar less defined, and the back of a chestnut instead of a deep-chocolate tint; the black throat-mark, too, is
not so conspicuous, and the general tints are altogether paler.

ry
The Plate represents an : ale i or i
E pres an adult male in the summer plumage, a young bird about a month old, and a reduced
figure of the male in the winter dress.