PASSERES. ERIN GILLIDÆ.
P y r r h u la e u r o pæ a , Vieillot*.
THE BULLFINCH.
Pyrrhula vulgarisé.
Pyrrhula, Brisson%.—Bill hard, short, broad and thick at the base, bulging at
the sides ; culmen rounded ; upper mandible considerably longer than the lower,
and overhanging its point. Nostrils basal, supernal, round, more or less hidden
by projecting and recurved frontal plumes. Gape slightly arched. Wings rather
short, with the first primary finely attenuated and so small as to seem wanting,
the third or fifth longest in the wing. Tail moderate, square or forked.
Tarsus scutellate in front, covered at the sides by a single plate, stout and
shortish. Claws moderately curved, rather short and strong.
T h e B u l l f in c h , though far less abundant than most of
the other members of the family indigenous to this country,
is yet too common a bird not to be well known all over these
kingdoms. Shy and retiring in its habits, except at one
season of the year, it is far more often heard than seen, and
* Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. Ed. 2, iv. p. 286 (1816).
t Temminck, Man. d’Orn. Ed. 2, i. p. 338 (1820).
î Ornithologie, iii. p. 308 (1760).
is seldom found associated with birds of any other species.
It is most numerous in the wooded districts or those which
are enclosed by high and tangled hedgerows, whence it
makes its way to our shrubberies, orchards and gardens.
Here it has earnt for itself an ill name beyond almost any
other bird, for, while the Sparrow has many apologists and
defenders, little has been urged in extenuation of the Bullfinch.
Countless dissections have proved that the remains of
insects are so rarely found in its crop or stomach that their
entrance into its diet must he regarded as accidental,* while
the regular way in which it will at times set. itself to bite off
the blossom-buds from one hough after another cannot be
denied by its warmest advocate. Even so friendly an author
as Selby writes (Nat. 1837, p. 208) that he was reluctantly
obliged to make war on it every spring. Yet there is a very
considerable choice used in its method. Some trees or bushes
will be wholly spared, while others growing among them
will be utterly stript. A like selection is exercised, as has
been before noticed (vol. i. page 484), by the Blue Titmouse,
but in that case the object is clear, while in the present it is
hidden. It must not be set down to mere caprice: some
cause doubtless exists and should be sought. When it is
found we shall probably be able to judge the deeds of the
Bullfinch with that knowledge of the circumstances which
impartiality requires. Its so-called ravages, however, are
confined to a very short period of the year—about a month
or six weeks at the end of winter or beginning of spring,
and, as observed long since by Knapp, the buds which produce
leaves are passed over, and those containing the embryo
of the blossom only eaten. Thus, “ though the tree is prevented
from producing fruit, yet the foliage is expanded as
usual; but had the leaves, the lungs of the plant, been indiscriminately
consumed, the tree would probably have died,
* It must be remarked, however, that Macgillivray, a good authority on such a
point, says “ Judging from the structure of its digestive organs, I should
doubt that such crude vegetable matters as buds could afford it sufficient nourishment.”
Newman also asserts (Zool. p. 8649) that it renders important services in
devouring the larvae of ChimatoUa brumata, a very common and destructive pest
in gardens.
VOL. H , Z