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I also know that Brambling are found in the Wharfe, in years where there has been no deficiency in that respect; yet why they should be common in that river, when they are never met with in the Ribble, which has ten times as many Salmon and Smolts in it, I am unable to comprehend. It is my opinion that the ova of the Salmon are not hatched before March or April.
It is quite different from the Whitling, or Sprod, which is not known in the Wharfe, at least not in the upper parts of that river, whilst the Brambling is never seen in the Ribble.
The Brambling is a beautiful fish, and it rises very freely both at the May fly and the artificial fly through the summer; it is occasionally caught by anglers with the worm on the Salmon spawning beds in the autumn, with the milt perfectly developed, and in a fluid state.
MacCulloch that he had a note of the occurrence of the Brambling or Mountain Finch in January, 1855. It cannot, however, be looked upon as anything more than a very rare occasional straggler, by no means occurring every year. It is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
BRAMBLING. Fringilla montifringilla, Linnaeus. French, "Pinson d'Ardennes." "Grosbec d'Ardennes." The Brambling can only be considered an occasional autumn and winter visitant, and probably never very numerous. I have never seen the bird in the Channel Islands myself. I have, however, one specimen a female killed in Brock Road, Guernsey, in December, 1878, and I have been informed by Mr.
"We were for several years, but I do not know the dates, entirely without Salmon, and of course without Smolts; and we invariably found that the Smolts made their appearance the year after the Salmon, but were very small till the second year, when we had what we call blue Smolts, which disappeared in May or June; and what you called Pinks, which remained till the following year; and Brambling Smolts, which remained another year.
I have shown that there were two migrations from the spawn of 1816; but this was not all there still remained a few Smolts through the summer of 1819, which by that time were from four to six ounces in weight, and which are known by the anglers there as Brambling Smolts. The blue marks on their sides are very distinct, and the fish is a perfect Smolt, except that it is considerably larger.
The Gaffer's eyes wandered from a brambling hopping about the lichen-covered boulders, and away to the sea-fowl wheeling above the ships: and then came into his mind a tale he had read once in "The Turkish Spy." "I wouldn't say just that," he answered slowly. "Anyway," said Long Ede, "I believe the Lord sent a miracle to us to save us all." "I wouldn't say just that, either," the Gaffer objected.
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