246 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Brambling in Glen Lyon, This is highly interesting, being the 

 first notice I have had of its breeding in the district, and espe- 

 cially as their nesting in this country is not common. 



65. Carduelis elegans, Steph. (Goldfinch.) 



I am glad to see that Mr Horn has found lately the Goldfinch 

 to be tolerably numerous, in the summer months, about Aber- 

 feldy. This is highly gratifying, as fears were entertained that 

 this beautiful little bird was gradually becoming extinct in the 

 district. With the exception of a pair seen by me at Moncreiffe 

 two or three years ago, I had not noticed it for very many 

 years. When a boy, the Goldspink, or Goldie, by which name it 

 was generally known, was quite a common bird in the Carse of 

 Gowrie, where it is now entirely extinct : it bred regularly every 

 year at Megginch, and other places in the neighbourhood. It 

 has of late, I am glad to say, been frequently observed by Mr 

 Malloch, Perth, about Methven ; and it is to be hoped it may 

 now be on the increase, and that wherever met with, it will be 

 spared. Fortunately, the trade of bird- catching is not now so 

 prevalent as it used to be, at least in this district, so that the 

 Goldfinch has the more chance in its favour. 



66. Chrysomitris spinus, Boie, (Siskin.) 



During the winter months this beautiful little bird, which is 

 frequently confounded by the people with the Goldfinch, and 

 called by them the Goldie, abounds in many parts of the dis- 

 trict, especially when the catkins of the alder are ripe and it is 

 a good season for them. Last year, there being few or no cat- 

 kins on the alders in this immediate neighbourhood, the Siskin 

 never made its appearance, though in ordinary years, during the 

 winter, they may be seen day after day, on the river-banks, 

 busily extracting the seeds ; and so occupied are they, as to 

 admit of a stranger walking up to the very foot of the tree with- 

 out being alarmed : if fired at they will go to a neighbouring tree, 

 and perhaps shortly return. They have been known ^o breed 

 about Pitlochrie, Rannoch,^ Strathtay opposite Dalguise,- and 

 no doubt do so in many other of the more Highland parts of the 

 district; for owing to the extreme cunning of the bird, it may 

 easily be overlooked. 



1 Zoologist, 1877, P- 2656. 



- Horn, Proceedings Nat. Hist, of Glasgow, Feb. 1879, p. 59. 



