52 THE BfRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



are fringed with the same colour. The tail is yellowish green 

 and brown in the centre. 



After the grey tips are lost in spring, the colours are clearer 

 and brighter. In Norway, where I first saw the male in breeding 

 dress, I was much struck by the blackness of the head and chin 

 and the prevailing yellowness of the plumage; caged birds 

 never look so bright. The female has dusky streaks on her 

 crown and lacks the black ; her under parts are paler, and she 

 is a much greyer bird. Winter Siskins, when seen from below 

 in their commonly reversed position, so that the light does not 

 fall direct upon them, look very grey indeed. The young are 

 decidedly browner than the females, the whites are replaced by 

 buff, and the streaks more pronounced. The bill is pale brown, 

 the legs dull brown, and the irides brown. Length, 4-5 ins. 

 Wing, 2-8 ins. Tarsus, '5 in. 



Citril Finch. Spimis dtrinella (Linn.). 



The Citril Finch, a native of the mountains of central and 

 south Europe, was included in the British Hst on the strength of 

 a bird caught at Brighton in October, 1886. Sharpe, however, 

 pronounced this bird to be a Cape Canary, presumably an 

 escape, and it was discarded until in January, 1904, one was 

 captured by a bird-catcher at Yarmouth and recorded by Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney. The Citril lacks the black head and the streaks 

 on the under surface, and is greener beneath than the Siskin. 

 Length, 5 ins. Wing, 3*1 ins. Tarsus, '6 in. 



Serin. Serimis scr'inus (Linn.). 



The range of the southern European Serin (Plate 20) extends 

 so far north as Germany and Holland, and as a wanderer the 

 bird has reached our islands on nearly thirty known dates, and 

 occasionally has been noted in flocks. Most of the recorded 



