86 



THE PINE SISKIN. 



the "new physicists" are telhng- us alxjut. When a hirtl is sighteil alone, 

 one sees that it is tlie graceful, undulatory, or "looping," flight of cousin 

 Goldfinch which the social Siskin indulges so recklessly. 



Many of the notes, too, remind us of the Goldfinch. There are first 

 those little chattering notes indulged a-wing and a-perch, when the l>irds are 

 not too busy feeding. The koodayl of incjuiry or greeting is the same. But 

 there is another note quite distinctive. It is a labored, but singularly penetrat- 

 ing production with a peculiar vowel sound (like a German umlauted u), 

 siim or cccciii. So much efi^nrt does the utterance of this note cost the bird. 



THE DRAPERIES OF PARADISE. 



RAINIER AS SEEN BY THE SISKIN. 



Photo by W. Leon Dawson. 



that it always occasions a display of the hidden sulphur markings of wings 

 and tail. 



When fired by passion the Siskin is capable, also*, oi extended song. 

 This daytime serenade is vivacious, but not loud except in occasional pas- 

 sages, — a sort of chattering, ecstatic warble of diverse elements. The bird 

 has, besides its own peculiar notes, many finch-like phrases and interi)olations, 

 reminding one now of the Goldfinch, and now of the California Purple Finch. 

 The most striking phrase pruduced in this connection is a triple shriek of the 

 Eveiung Grosbeak, subdued of cnurse, but very effective. 



Tho perhaps not numerically ef|ual to the Western Golden-crowned 

 Kinglet, nor to the Western Winter Wren, there is not another liird in \\'ash- 

 ington which enjoys a more nearly uniform distrilnitinn than the Pine 



