i 3 6 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



a bending spray preparatory to a new flight, or 

 descending jerkily to some tall reed or thistle-head 

 only to return to the favourite tree. A prettier 

 sight than a little flock of Siskins thus engaged can 

 scarcely be imagined, and while the eye is pleased 

 with their ever-varying attitudes, the ear is charmed 

 with their incessant merry notes ; for they are by 

 no means silent at their work. A pleasing twitter, 

 uttered, as it were, half aloud, serves as much to 

 keep the flock together as to express the high 

 spirits of the individuals which compose it. 



A great friend of the Siskin is the Lesser Red- 

 poll, and the two species are frequently to be seen 

 in company, but we must confine our attention for 

 the present to the former bird. Although as a 

 general rule remaining with us only from November 

 to April, there are many instances on record of the 

 Siskin having remained to nest in England, and we 

 are satisfied that in some parts of Scotland this bird 

 breeds regularly every year. Mr. A. G. More, 

 who has been at considerable pains to ascertain the 

 distribution of birds in Great Britain during the 

 nesting season, says of the Siskin l " The nest has 



1 The Ibis for 1865 ; p. 129. 



