The Chaffinches are regarded as the type-form of Fringillidae. The handsome and sprightly Fringilla coelebs[4] is common throughout the whole of Europe. Conspicuous by his variegated plumage, his peculiar call note[5] and his glad song, the cock is almost everywhere a favourite. In Algeria the British chaffinch is replaced by a closely-allied species (F. spodogenia), while in the Atlantic Islands it is represented by two others (F. tintillon and F. teydea)—all of which, while possessing the general appearance of the European bird, are clothed in soberer tints.[6] Another species of true Fringilla is the brambling (F. montifringilla), which has its home in the birch forests of northern Europe and Asia, whence it yearly proceeds, often in flocks of thousands, to pass the winter in more southern countries. This bird is still more beautifully coloured than the chaffinch—especially in summer, when, the brown edges of the feathers being shed, it presents a rich combination of black, white and orange. Even in winter, however, its diversified plumage is sufficiently striking.
With the exception of the single species of bullfinch already noticed as occurring in Alaska, all the above forms of finches are peculiar to the Palaearctic Region.
(A. N.)
[1] About 200 species of these have been described, and perhaps 150 may really exist.
[2] The earliest published description seems to be that of Gesner in 1555 (Orn. p. 234), but he had not seen the bird, an account of which was communicated to him by Raphael Seiler of Augsburg, under the name of Suckeruögele.
[3] See also The Canary Book, by Robert L. Wallace; Canaries and Cage Birds, by W.A. Blackston; and Darwin’s Animals and Plants under Domestication, vol. i. p. 295. An excellent monograph on the wild bird is that by Dr Carl Bolle (Journ. für Orn., 1858, pp. 125-151).
[4] This fanciful trivial name was given by Linnaeus on the supposition (which later observations do not entirely confirm) that in Sweden the hens of the species migrated southward in autumn, leaving the cocks to lead a celibate life till spring. It is certain, however, that in some localities the sexes live apart during the winter.
[5] This call-note, which to many ears sounds like “pink” or “spink,” not only gives the bird a name in many parts of Britain, but is also obviously the origin of the German Fink and the English Finch. The similar Celtic form Pinc is said to have given rise to the Low Latin Pincio, and thence come the Italian Pincione, the Spanish Pinzon, and the French Pinson.
[6] This is especially the ease with F. teydea of the Canary Islands, which from its dark colouring and large size forms a kind of parallel to the Azorean Pyrrhula murina.