90 THE SISKIN 
nest is among the most beautiful that birds construct. One now 
before me is placed among the terminal branches cut from the 
bough of a Scotch fir which grew at an elevation of about twenty 
feet from the ground. It is encircled by upwards of a dozen leafy 
twigs which unite beneath its base, and form both a firm support and 
effectual shelter. The substance is composed of tufted white lichens 
(Usnea and Evernia), and a few fine roots and wiry stems of garden- 
thyme, felted together with wool so securely, that it is scarcely 
possible to remove one of them without damaging the whole. With 
these is intermixed a piece of worsted, and a thread of sewing cotton ; 
a few horse-hairs succeed, and the whole of the interior is thickly 
matted with the white silky down of the coltsfoot. Other nests 
vary in the materials employed, moss being sometimes used instead 
of white lichen, and willow-cotton or feathers instead of the down 
of the coltsfoot. Thistle-down is sometimes named as the material 
of the lining ; but this must be under unusual circumstances, that 
substance being generally unattainable in spring. Besides fir-trees, 
the apple and elm are often selected by Goldfinches to build their 
nests in, and they not unfrequently resort to any low tree in a hedge 
or shrubbery, also to young oak-trees. In autumn, Goldfinches 
assemble in flocks of from ten to twenty or more, and resort to waste 
places, or the borders of fields, where thistles abound, and it is hard 
to imagine a prettier sight than a party of these innocent and bril- 
liant hunters, perching, all heedless of spines and prickles, on the 
thistle heads, plucking out the seeds with the pappus attached, 
and cleverly separating the former from their appendage. While 
thus employed, they seem to take it for granted that no one will 
molest them, but continue their useful labour, twittering pleasantly 
all the while, until the spectator comes within a few yards of them, 
when they fly off like butterflies to another prickly bed. 
Owing to more efficient bird-protection the Goldfinch, which 
was decreasing largely in numbers, is now on the increase again. 
THE SISKIN 
CARDUELIS SPINUS 
Crown black; behind the eye a broad yellow streak ; all the plumage varie- 
gated with grey, dusky, and various shades of yellow and yellowish 
green ; wings dusky, with a transverse greenish yellow bar, and a black 
one above, and another black one acrass the middle of the tertiaries ; 
tail dusky, the base and edge of the inner web greenish yellow. Female— 
all the colours less bright, and no black on the head. Length four and 
ahalfinches. Eggs greyish white, speckled with purplish brown. 
Tue Siskin, or Aberdevine, is best known as a cage-bird, as it is 
ouly a very occasional breeder in Great Britain, and during the 
