SISKINS. 



93 



with broad white borders, the others with a termiiuU 

 white spot on inner web ; front of crown, lores, and 

 upper edge of eyelid black ; edge of wing !)elow bhK'k ; 

 under wing-coverts, thighs, and under tail-coverts 

 white; axillaries white margined with yellow; bill 

 and feet yellowish brown ; irides dark l)rown. Female 

 altogether duller excepting on the ramp, more ruddy 

 brownish in general tint (much like the winter plumage 

 of the m;Ue) ; borders of central t.ul-ft\ither less 

 white ; the black forehead absent, the forehead, lores, 

 and eyebrow being bright j^ellow ; eix>wii olive- 

 yellowish ; the under surfa<v is bright yellow, but 

 greenish at the sides; the thighs ashy; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries also a-«liy-whitish. Habitat, 

 North America, especially the eastern States. 



J. G. Cooper (" Ornithology of California," Vol. I., 

 pp. 167-8) says: — "Their favourite resorts are . . . 

 those pla<;os where thistles .and other composite flowers 

 abound, and their fondness for the seeds of the foi-mer 

 has given them, in places, the name of " thistle-bii'd." 

 They are al.so very fond of willow-groves and cotton- 

 woods, feeding much on their seeds, while in winter 

 those of the sycamore {Plataiiu~-<) supply their cJiief 

 subsistence. In the eastern States they remain through- 

 out the snowy season, and are often seen feeding on 

 cockle-burs and other seeds left standing above the 

 siunv. 



" In February, when the males acquire their yellow 

 plumage, the flocks often <x)llect on top of a tree, and 

 sing in choiiis for an hour, their sweet discord being 

 parliculaily pleasing, the whole flock sinking and 

 raising their voices in conceit, though not keeping 

 one time. Their song, resembling .somewhat that of 

 the Canary, is well known, as they are frequently kept 

 in cages. 



" .\t Santa Cruz I found two nests about the first 

 of ,Iune. One wais in a bush, not more than three 

 feet from the ground ; the other on the low branch of 

 a tree, near the end, and contained young. They also 

 build high, in the forks of trees. The nest is very 

 conip.-wtly constructed of strips of bark, roots, and 

 fibrous plants mixed with downiy scales of leaves and 

 catkins, and lined with thistle-down, that of the 

 sycamore, or .sometimes wool or cowhair and fine grass, 

 the cavity measuring 1.50 by 1.30 inches. The outside 

 is often "covered with silk of caterpillars' nests, coi)- 

 webs, or plant fibres, and seems glued smoothly 

 together. The eggs, from three to five, are pale 

 greeni.sh white, and measure 0.60 by 0.50 inch. 



" Being rather late in the year in building, they 

 usually raise but one brood, though they have been 

 known to feed their jx>ung as late as the middle of 

 September." 



Russ says that he received a pair of this species, but 

 lost both "before they acquired their summer plumage. 

 Mr. Boedicker had some larter, Inrt sent them away, and 

 Rr.ss did not heair what became of them. He adds 

 that Reiche of Alfeld regularly imports a considerable 

 number in the early sirmmer months, selling them at 

 84s. a dozen or 10s. a pair ; but doubtless this traffic 

 is now put a stop to by the existing laws for the pro-~ 

 tection of birds in the United States. C. tri-^liii has 

 been exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens, and 

 I think also at some of our shows. Mr. Seth-Smith 

 secured a pair in 1898.* 



Yarrell's Siskin {Chn/somilrix ynrrdli). 

 Bright yellow, somewhat olivaceous on upper back ; 

 median and greater coverts black broadly tipped with 

 yellow ; other wing-feathers black, the primaries edged 



• A coloured plate illustrating both sexes was published in 

 Tht AHailfural Magazine, Ist series. Vol. V., facing p. 125. 



with yellow and the secondaries with whitish towards 

 the ends; the latter, excepting the innermost, yellow 

 at base ; terminal half of tail black ; crown, lores, and 

 eyelid black ; sides t>elow somewhat greenish. Female 

 browner on the wings and tail than the male, and with 

 no l)lack on the bead ; in fact, it is altogether more 

 yellow. Habitat, Brazil. 



I have no notes on the wild life of this Finch. In 

 The Ibis for 1881 Mr. W. A. Forbes says:— "I 

 obtained a living specimen at Parahyba, which is now 

 alive in the Zoological (Jardens. I suhsequently saw 

 one near (laranhun.s, and a pair near some forest close 

 to Quipapa." Also, in Thi' IhU for 1906, Mr. M. J. 

 NicoU says: — "Several examples of tliis species were 

 purchased alive in the market-place at Bahia, but they 

 all <lied." 



Russ si>cms to have overlooked the fact that this 

 Siskin has been exhibited at the Jx)ndon (iardens, but 

 apparently includes it in his book on the ground that 

 .\udubon had one in a cage for some time ; but, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Shaipe, Auduton figures two species us his 

 Fnngilla mcxicann, the present bird being the male, 

 but the female either iS'. p^altrla or ■S'. mfj-irana ; the 

 question is, which did he keep in a cage? 



Many years s^ince I bought two examples of what 

 I believe to have been this bird, from Mr. Abraliams. 

 I had to pay 30s. for the two. They sang splendidly. 

 Unhappily one only lived a week and the other a 

 fortnight, so that I had to pay dearly for the pleasure 

 of hearing the song, which is certainly far superior to 

 that of any other Siskin or Serin that I have heard, 

 with the exception of Serinus leurnpygius. 



Indian Siskin (Chrysomitris spinoides). 



Crown and cheeks close to the moustachial stripe 

 blackish olive ; frontal band, lores, front of cheeks, 

 sides of neck, and rump bright yellow ; wings black- 

 brown, the fliglits narrowly edged with clear grey at 

 the tips and their inner webs broadly bordered at base 

 with yellow; a broad yellow transverse belt; tail 

 black-brown, yellow at base; lower abdomen dull 

 white ; remainder of under surface bright yellow ; the 

 sides olive-greenish, browner and mottled with white 

 on flanks ; bill and feet fleshy grey-brownish ; irides 

 brown. Female altogether paler, her back and abdomen 

 streaked with dusky olive. Habitat, "Himalayas from 

 Cashmere to Sikhim, extending into the province of 

 Szechuen in Western China" (Sharpe). 



Jerdon ("Birds of India." Vol. II., pp. 409-10) ob- 

 serves : — "This prcttv little Siskin is found throughout 

 the Himalayas. It is a somewhat larger and more 

 brightlv .coloured bird than the Kuropean Siekin, and 

 the bill is proportionatelv much stronser. At Darjeel- 

 ing it is only a winter visitant, hut then by no means 

 rare. It keeps to the woods, occasionally entering 

 gardens in small parties. Adams savs that it is common 

 in the wooded dirfricts in the north-west, and that its 

 song is very like that of the English Sis'kin. Hodgson 

 says it is more common in the central region than in the 

 northern." 



Hume ("Nestis and Eggs of Indian Birdi>." Vol. II., 

 pp. 156-7) says: — " The" eo-called Indian Siskin is not 

 a Siskin at all, and is certainly not a f'lirj/i'nmitrU. 

 The note is very like that of a Greenfinch, but struc- 

 turally our bird is not a rhlnrix : and it seem^ to me 

 that cither one must unite the whole of the true Finches 

 under one genus, FriiirjiUn. or one must separate the 

 present species as a distinct genus, and adopt, as I 

 have done, Cabanis's name, Hyparanfhis. 



" Althouch this biiyl breeds verv freely in all well- 

 wooded hills in the interior of the Himalayas, «t eleva- 



