or its summer growth been materially injured: we may thus
lose our fruit this year, yet the tree survives, and hope lives,
too, that we may be more fortunate the next.” But it is
certain that the whole crop is not always destroyed, and it
has been suggested by Neville Wood (Orn. Text-Book, p. 61)
and others that the operation of this bird is in some instances
even beneficial, when, as not unfrequently happens, it only
thins the superabundant buds, and the pruning the tree or
bush thus receives (being just such as a judicious gardener,
if he could reach the branches, would himself perform)
increases the produce of the rest. At any rate, taking the
most exaggerated view of the damage done, it may be safely
said to be less serious than is frequently the effect of a single
frost somewhat later in the season, and the deficiency of the
fruit-crop due to this last cause is doubtless often wrongly
ascribed to the Bullfinch. The buds of the gooseberry are
the first to be attacked by this bird, and then generally those
of the cherry, after which it turns to those of the plum,
while those of the pear and apple come in for their share of its
attention so soon as they are in a sufficiently forward state;
but the peach and kindred trees are observed to be always
neglected.*
The charges brought against this bird are so serious as to
demand the first and fullest consideration. There remains
to be said that except during the short season when the buds
are maturing its food is in no way detrimental to man, but
rather the reverse, consisting as it does the greater part of
the year of the leaves and seeds of countless plants, many
of which are noxious weeds, such as docks, thistles, ragwort,
groundsel, chickweed and plantain. As autumn ripens the
various wild berries, those of the dog-rose in particular,
they are greedily sought by it in winter. After March it is
seldom seen out of the deep woodlands which form so secure
a refuge for it, or at any rate of such shrubberies and plan*
Shooting Bullfinches, or other birds, as they sit on a branch, probably does
more harm than they can do to the trees, for nearly every twig that is hit' by a
pellet of shot sustains a permanent injury, while that inflicted by the bird, however
serious, is but temporary.
tations as are thick enough to afford it the desired seclusion,
and soon begins to build. It has heen said to produce but
one brood in the season, but this seems doubtful since it
frequently has eggs before the end of April, and eggs may be
found unhatched at the end of June. The nest is a beautiful
and very peculiar structure, formed of small twigs, chiefly
of the hirch, beech or hornbeam, deftly interlaid and intercrossed
so as to become a very solid platform, in the middle
of which is a recess curiously wrought with fibrous roots,
some of them of considerable length hut coiled and entwined
together, those which form the lining being of course the
finest, and the whole is usually placed on a leafy branch from
four to six feet above the ground. The eggs are from four
to six in number, of a greenish-blue, which though variable
is never very deep in shade, speckled, spotted and occasionally
streaked with purplish-grey and dark brownish-purple
markings, generally distributed towards the larger end and
frequently in a zone-like form. They measure from *79 to
•67 by from *57 to *52 in. Notwithstanding its natural
shyness and the mistrust it may well have of man, the Bullfinch
nearly always permits a close approach when upon its
n e st; and will occasionally allow itself to be caught by the
hand thereon.* Little doubt can exist that this bird, like
the Nightingale (vol. i. page 314), owes much of its being
able to maintain its numbers in this country to game-preservers,
who, during the critical period of breeding, so
jealously protect its woodland-retreats from disturbance.
The young continue to associate with their parents through
autumn and winter till the following spring; and so constant
is the attachment of these birds to one another, that they
are believed to pair for life.
The song of the Bullfinch has no remarkable quality of
tone to recommend it, and indeed is so feeble as to be seldom
heard except when one is close to the bird, which ceases from
the performance on the least alarm. It is accompanied by
* The Bullfinch will breed in confinement, particularly in aviaries where there
is sufiicient space. Hybrids have been produced between this species and some
of the other Finches.