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 A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE bers of late years. Nowadays in any locality in our county, whenever carefully sought for, it will undoubtedly be found. At Southill I cannot call to mind ever visiting the park without observing this bird more or less freely, and in at least five instances have found its nest also. Mr. A. Covington also informs me that in 1893 he had three nests, each containing six eggs, brought to his notice, all taken from an orchard in the vicinity of that park. Mr. J. King speaks of them as fairly plentiful at Southill previous to 1844. In Bromham Park four nests were found, one of which, on 21 May I 893, contained six young. At Flitwick, Ampthill, Luton Hoo, Silsoe, Great Barford, Chicksands Priory, Woburn and Turvey it breeds also, and I have observed it in numerous other localities. 53. Goldfinch. Carduelh elegans, Stephens. Before the passing of the Wild Birds Pro- tection Acts of 1880 and 1881 the goldfinch, owing to the constant persecution of bird- catchers, was fast verging on extinction. Now its numbers seem again rapidly on the increase. In the cottage gardens and orchards, particularly around the neighbourhood of Bromham and also at Colmworth I have found it of late years quite commonly. But at present in many other districts where it was once common it does not seem as yet to have re-established itself. 54. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.) An irregular winter migrant. Its numbers vary considerably and its occurrence is not frequent. Their favourite haunts with us are larch and alder trees, where they are likely to be found in numbers. 1 A flock of 70 or 80 siskins was feeding on the larches in Rowney Warren on I April 1902. 55. House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus (Linn.) When corn was considerably more valuable than in present years, ' sparrow clubs ' existed to keep this bird as much as possible in check. In certain parts of our county many of the country people used to term this bird the ' theck sparrow,' or, to be more literal, ' thatch sparrow,' deriving the prefix from the serious damage done to thatched buildings, in which they so freely made holes for nesting purposes. Now that corn is of less consideration, thatched dwellings far less numerous, and sparrow clubs kw and far between, sparrows 1 The reported nesting of the siskin ' in Bed- fordshire ' (Zoologist, 1880) is an error. It should have been reported as ' in Buckinghamshire.' have undoubtedly increased, and are more often than not left to their depredations. 56. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.) An abundant resident, gregarious, but with a decided preference for its own species. Pro- bably its unobtrusive habits and its similarity in plumage to the house-sparrow cause it to be overlooked by the casual observer. For nesting, usually holes in trees, in the vicinity of water, are chosen, more particularly in the pollard willows, which are so common along all our streams. I have found a nest in the thatch of outbuildings ; in another instance two nests were placed in some drain pipes built into a wall alongside Cople Brook, and, again, a nest containing the very unusual number of seven eggs I took out of one of the wooden bridges spanning the New Cut at Newnham. Occasionally it has been found building inside old magpies' nests. 57. Chaffinch. Fringilla Calebs, Linn. A very familiar species and generally dis- tributed ; gregarious with numerous other birds throughout the greater part of the year. When flights of the brambling are observed it will be noticed that the company of the chaffinch seems almost indispensable to them. Pied, buff coloured and albino specimens have occasionally been obtained. 58. Brambling. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn. One of our migratory finches, occurring only during the winter months. Its num- bers greatly vary according to the severity of the weather. In some winters great num- bers are seen in Woburn Park, which they frequent to feed upon the beech mast there. Mr. J. King has observed them in flocks feeding under the beech trees in Southill Park. My father has also seen this bird in great numbers at Muggerhanger, and I have met with them very commonly at Chicksands Park. In favourable seasons, from November to the end of February or early March, the brambling is taken very freely, occasionally in hundreds, by the bird-catchers in the southern portion of the county, mixed with the flights of chaffinches, linnets, greenfinches, and other birds. Mr. A. Covington has informed me that he once had over forty of these birds sent to him, which had been killed at one shot when about to roost in some evergreens. 59. Linnet. Linota cannabina (Linn.) Locally, Brown Linnet, Red Linnet. A widely distributed resident. From in- formation obtained from bird-catchers I learn that they must at certain times become very