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 

 {Usiwa and Evcrnia), 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 across 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 tour and 

 a half inches. Eggs greyish white, speckled with purplish brown. 



The Siskin, or Aberdevine, is best known as a cage-bird, as it is 

 only a ver}' occasional breeder in Great Britain, and during the 



