capturing hundreds of these diminutive creatures. Still this bird has more friends than enemies, and many Americans regard it with the same affection that we feel for our robin redbreast, and will feed it in a similar manner. Its confidence in man is so great, that it will allow a horseman or foot passenger to approach quite close to it in the street, only flying away if it has reason to think it will be molested. Thus it lives until the winter is passed, when it quits the towns and villages for its favourite mountain or native haunts. The Winter Finch but seldom joins company with any other birds, though in the villages and farmyards it will associate with the so-called "Song Sparrow" and domestic fowls, keeping, however, somewhat apart. It passes the night either perched upon a tree, or in a hole, and often makes a place for itself in stacks of corn. In its movements the Winter Finch much resembles our sparrows, and hops very lightly over the ground, testifying great readiness to engage any of its kind in single combat. As soon as these birds return to their native places the work of incubation commences, and the males are constantly engaged in furious contentions, chasing each other through the trees with wings and tail outspread, and thus exhibiting their plumage in all its varied beauty. At such times their simple but pleasing song is at the best, its principal feature being a few long, drawn-out notes, that are not unlike the twitter of a young canary. [Illustration: THE BROWN LINNET (_Cannabina linota_).] When about to build, the little pair seek a quiet spot in which to make their nest, preferring a rock thickly covered with bushes; and there upon the ground they construct their home, forming it of twigs and grass, and lining the interior most delicately with fine moss and horsehair. The four eggs of which a brood consists, are of a yellowish colour, thickly covered with reddish spots, and measure five-eighths of an inch across the broadest end. Both parents tend their young with great care, feeding them for some time after they leave the nest, and warning them of danger by a peculiar cry. The Sparrow Falcon (_Rhyncodon sparverius_) must be regarded as the most formidable of the many enemies of the Winter Finches. Wilson mentions having seen this bird continually hovering in their neighbourhood, watching for a favourable opportunity, and, when the proper moment arrived, the destroyer would swoop down upon its victim, seize it, and carry it to the nearest tree to be devoured. The weasel, and many of the smaller kinds of beasts of prey, are also numbered among their foes. * * * * *