Volume 24, Plate XVII / Ornithology (Birds)

Mountain Finch

Fringilla montifringilla

The Mountain Finch is a winter visitant only to Britain, arriving from September and leaving early in spring, assembling in flocks often mixed with Chaffinches but known by its white rump in flight, feeding on the ground on grains, seeds, and beech mast. In winter the head and back are black edged with grey, the wings and shoulders reddish orange, the rump white, and the breast pale reddish orange, while summer brings deeper black.