FRINOILLIN^. 



167 



THE SISKIN. 

 Chryso.mi'tris spi'xus (Linnceus). 



The Siskin, or Aberdevine as it has been called since the time of 

 Albin, is principally known in England and Wales during winter 

 and on its migrations to and from its more northern breeding- 

 c^uarters ; but there is evidence that it has bred, exceptionally, in 

 Surrey, Sussex, and perhaps some other southern counties. In the 

 north, where fir-woods are more abundant, it has nested in the 

 county of Durham ; while a few pairs breed regularly in some 

 parts of Cumberland, and in the Solway district in Scotland. 

 From Perthshire northward, it nests freely in some of the old 

 fir-woods and in other suitable localities up to Caithness ; in 

 East Sutherland it is said to be resident, and it also breeds in 

 Ross-shire ; but on the western side generally it is only a somewhat 

 rare winter-visitor, and I do not trace it to the Hebrides or the 

 Orkneys, although it wanders to the Shetlands. In Ireland it 

 is resident in cos. Wicklow and Waterford, and nests in Down, 

 Antrim, and probably in otlier localities where pine-trees flourish ; 

 while in winter it is tolerably common over a much larger area. 



In Northern Europe the breeding-limit of the Siskin coincides 

 with that of conifer-growth ; and soutiiward, the bird nests in some 

 of the fir-woods of Germany, South Holland, France, Switzerland, 

 Northern Italy as far as the \icinity of Florence, Austria, and 



