THE SISKIN 



103 



to find it snugly hidden away some forty feet up the pine or 

 fir tree's dense and gloomy branches. You may wander for 

 hours up and down these orand old woods, strugorlinfT through 

 the dense lower branches without finding a tree which may 

 possibly contain a Siskin's nest. And then, when the tree 

 by chance is found, the search is by no means over, and hours 

 may elapse before the tiny nest is discovered at last. It 

 resembles that of the Lesser Eedpole, and is usually built on 

 one of the flat branches that grow almost horizontally from 

 the trunk. Dry grass, moss, and rootlets form the outer 

 structure, and this is lined wdth vegetable down and occasion- 

 ally a few feathers. I have taken from a dense larch planta- 

 tion the nest of this bird, in which the lining was composed 

 of hair and one or two white feathers. The eggs are five or 

 six in number, bluish-green in ground colour, spotted with 

 dark liver-brown and a few paler marks of gray. On some 

 eggs a few streaks may be seen. They very closely resemble 

 certain eggs of the Lesser Eedpole, and from those of the 

 Goldfinch they are quite indistinguishable. In many cases 

 the Siskin rears two broods in the season, and the female 

 performs the task of incubation. When the nest is menaced by 

 danger the little birds become very anxious and flit about from 

 tree to tree in a restless manner, often betraying the wdiere- 

 abouts of their treasure by their great solicitude for its safety. 

 Very similar to the Siskin in its annual movements is 

 the Twite, only instead of pine woods it loves to frequent 

 in summer the broad treeless tracts of Grouse moor. In winter, 

 when the moors are too barren and dreary for this sober little 

 bird, it leaves them and seeks the lowland pastures and 

 stubbles, where it awaits the return of spring. It may be 

 readily distinguished from its relations, the Linnet and the 

 Eedpole, by the absence of the claret coloured patch on the 

 head and breast, and in spring and summer a further point 

 of distinction is to be found in its yellow bill. 



