176 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



Pine Siskin ; Pine Finch. Sinnus pinus 



5.00 

 Ad. — Upper parts grayish-brown, streaked with black; a yel- 

 low bar across the icing, partly concealed by a whitish wing-bar; 

 bases of tail-feathers sulphur-yellow, these and the wing-patch 

 showing in flight; under parts gray, streaked with brownish; bill 

 sharply pointed. 



Nest, in coniferous trees. Eggs, pale greenish blue, speckled 

 chiefly around the larger end with reddish brown. 



The Pine Siskin is an abundant resident of the great 

 coniferous forests of northern New England and New York. 



Occasionally it moves south- 



ward in oreat flocks, and 

 spends the winter in south- 

 ern Xew England and New 

 York, often in company with 

 Crossbills and KedpoUs. An 

 occasional migrant flock or 

 single bird generally appears 

 in October, and in April or 

 J\Iay. The Siskin, like the other northern finches, is rest- 

 less and yet fearless. It occasionally feeds on the ground, 

 and may then be approached almost within reach. It gen- 

 erally feeds on the seeds of birches, and on those of pines 

 and spruces, clinging easily to the twigs or cones. 



The common call-note resembles the syllables chee-ee 

 given in a husky tone ; when flying it utters a note like the 

 syllables tit-i-tit. Another very sweet call, often given by a 

 single bird to call back the flock, is identical with a note of 

 the American Goldfinch. The song heard even in jNIarch in 

 the depths of the spruce forests is a rather formless succession 

 of sweet notes, varied occasionally by a screeching note, like 

 the noise made by blowing through a comb covered by paper. 

 Siskins may be told from Goldfinches, with which they 

 often associate, by the thick streaking over the entire 

 under parts, and from Redpolls by the thicker streaking on 



Fig. 52. Pine Siskin 



