Pine Siskin 347 



Description. — Male — General colour greyish-brown strongly streaked 

 with dusky, the ground-colour of the rump and the lower side much 

 paler, becoming almost white on the abdomen ; wings and tail dusky 

 black, the bases of the remiges and rectrices and their outer edges pale 

 lemon-yellow, the middle- and greater-coverts generally tipped with 

 white ; iris black, bill and legs dark horn. Length 4-15 ; wing 2-85 ; 

 tail 1-75 ; culmen -40 ; tarsus -55. 



The female resembles the male ; a young bird has a buffy wash 

 above and below and has buffy tips to the wing-coverts. 



Distribution. — Breeding in the pine forests of northern North America 

 south to New England and Minnesota, and along the mountain ranges 

 to North CaroUna and the Mexican border ; south in winter to the Gulf 

 States and Mexico. In Colorado the Pine Siskin is a resident, breeding 

 both in the mountains up to about timber hne and also in the plains, 

 though perhaps most abundantly in the former ; in the winter it Ls 

 found at lower elevations in the mountains and in the foothills, but its 

 movements are very erratic, like those of the Crossbill. 



It appears to be widely distributed throughout the State, as 

 the following selected records show, viz. : Boulder co. (Henderson), 

 El Paso and Lincoln cos. (Aiken), Salida, January and May (Frey), 

 Fort Garland (Henshaw), Grand, Routt and Eagle cos. (Warren), 

 Twin Lakes (Scott), San Juan co. (Drew). 



Habits. — Like most of its near relatives, the Pine 

 Siskin is nearly always in small parties or large flocks 

 and generally in the pine forest, on the buds of which 

 it chiefly subsists. They are very erratic in their move- 

 ments, often appearing for a short time in large numbers, 

 and then disappearing again completely. In the spring 

 they relish the catkins of the cotton-wood, and buds 

 of other deciduous trees, while in the autumn they often 

 associate with Goldfinches, and feed on the seed of the 

 thistle and other weeds. Frey observed large numbers 

 of them in May, in the City Park at Sahda, digging 

 their bills into the dandelions and feeding on the 

 unripened seed. Their flight is undulating, and they 

 have an agreeable song in the spring. 



In the plains eggs may be looked for from May 15th 

 to June 1st, in the mountains from June 15th to July 

 5th. The nest is usually high up in a pine tree, though 



