CHAFFINCH, Frinqdi.a ccelebs, one or the most common British birds, a species of finch (q.v.), and probably that to which the name finch, now so extended in its signifi cation, originally belonged; fink, the German form of the name, and pink and twink, English provincial forms still appropriated to the C., having some resemblance of sound to its common call-note. •The whole length of the C. is about 6 inches. The tail is very slightly forked. The male, in summer, has the top of the head and nape of the neck bluish-gray; the back, chestnut; the wings almost black, with two conspicuous white bars; the tail, nearly black. The colors of the female are much duller than those of the male. The C. is a very widely distributed species, being found in almost all parts of Europe, in soma parts of Asia, in the n. of Africa, and as far w. as the Azores. In the colder northern countries, it is migratory; in more southern regions, it is station ary. Linuteus gave it the specific name cagebs, from observing that the flocks congre gated in winter in Sweden consisted chiefly of males, the females having, as he sup posed, sought a milder climate. A partial separation of the sexes is observed also in the great winter-flocks in Britain, but it is only partial; and Yarrell thinks that the young males of the previous season, which resemble the females in plumage, are asso ciated with them, and have been mistaken for them. The flocks seen in Britain in
winter are believed to be augmented by migration from Scandinavia. The eggs are usually 4 or 5 in number, of pale purplish buff color, sparingly streaked and spotted with reddish brown. The C. feeds chiefly on insects, and does much service in sum mer by destroying aphides and caterpillars; but eats also seeds, and is sometimes perse cuted, because in spring it pulls up and eats young turnips and radishes when in the seed-leaf. Great numbers of chaffinches are killed for the table in Italy. In Germany, this bird is in the highest esteem as a song-bird. Its notes are very clear and loud, but some individuals greatly excel the ordinary multitude of their species; and their supe rior notes, if heard on the Thuringian hills, speedily attract bird-catchers. Bechstein says that, in Thuringia, a cow has been given for a C. with a fine voice; and the Ger mans have taken the trouble to classify the different strains of chaffinches, giving them distinct names, and regarding those birds as particularly valuable by which certain of these strains are produced.—The common Scotch name of the C. is shilfa.